Holly's first house!

Holly bought her first home and moved in just a few weeks ago. I have been so excited to see her new place and celebrate with her, so I wanted to plan a visit before she had to go back to school. Last Tuesday the boys and I packed up and headed to her new condo. It is beautiful -complete with newly refinished hardwood floors, a gorgeous cherry kitchen, tons of natural light streaming in from the windows, beautiful light fixtures, tiled bathroom, an open floor plan and lots of closet space. As if that weren't enough, she continues to have excellent taste and the furniture and decor is beautiful. I just love it.

I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't take too many pictures during our visit. I wish I would have captured more rooms of the house and also more of what we did together. The boys kept us on our toes. Oh well, check her blog, hopefully she will post more pictures of her new place soon. (hint, hint)

When we first arrived, the boys were happy to be out of the van. They took out their toys and played while Holly and I sneaked into the kitchen where she had me sample the treats she has been cooking up in her new kitchen. There were delicious Key-Lime bars, Chocolate-Chip-Coconut cookie bars, and Banana muffins with a crumble topping. Yum - this girl needs a bakery!

Holly in her living room with William and Henry

Notice the adorable striped chair and beautiful oriental rug.

Sally, Holly's sister and forever the gracious hostess, invited us to their house for a delicious pizza dinner. Sally and her husband Tim have two little boys, also. Nathan turned 3 in June and Blake turned 1 last month (he and Henry have the same birthday!). Henry and Nathan had so much fun playing together. They loved running laps around the backyard and were entertained by Holly doing dozens of cartwheels across the yard.

Nathan and Henry hiding under a basketWilliam and BlakeHenry and Nathan at the kids table for dinner

We went back to Holly's house to get the boys ready for bed.

Henry and William in Holly's tub

The next morning we walked on a trail next to Holly's condo to a park. It was an awesome park, with lots of playground equipment I've never seen before. (Again, I regret not taking more pictures-we had lots of fun here.) Henry's favorite thing to do was the climbing wall. He scaled it several times and made it look easy!

Then we picked up Panera and brought lunch to Holly's mom, Delcine, and brother, Billy, at her parent's house. Henry absolutely loves Holly's brothers and had so much fun playing with "Uncle Billy". There is never a dull moment with Holly and Delcine, and as usual we had lots of fun and laughs. I even left with a new, hand-made pair of earrings by Delcine which I love. See some of her hand-made jewelry here.

It was such a fun visit, although time always flies when we're together and there's never enough of it. I'm so thrilled for Holly and absolutely love her new home! Congrats Holly!

Then we're off to Bapa and Grandma Bug's house

We left Holly's house on Wednesday evening and headed to my Dad and Sandi's house, a.k.a. Bapa and Grandma Bug for some summer fun. We had a delicious home cooked dinner when we arrived Wednesday night. The boys ate dinner and then they were ready to play.

William and Grandma

William crawled right over to their guinea pig's cage. He was so excited that he shook and rocked the cage. After dinner we walked to the playground at a school nearby. I used to play at the same playground with my brother and friends when we were kids. They have since installed brand new equipment, but it's still neat to be playing there now with my own children. William and Henry in the wagon pulled by my dad.

Their first wagon ride. They loved riding; William shrieked with delight. By the end of the ride, both boys were wiggling the sides of the wagon and trying to stand up. Grandma and William

Reading bedtime stories.

My dad took the day off work on Thursday, so we were able to spend the day together. It was a warm day, but unfortunately not warm enough to swim in their backyard pool. Both boys got in but neither of them liked the cold water. Henry opted for playing in the sprinkler instead.

Henry and his Bapa Bug.

They share a special bond and are inseparable when we're together.
Even Bapa Bug ran through.I love this picture; it's the epitome of being a child in the summer.My dad and William
Henry helped Grandma dig carrots out of her garden.

Grandma and Henry with a fresh garden carrot.
William loved sitting in the front yard watching the guinea pig.
He finally got her!

We had a full day of fun; the perfect summer day for the boys. The day was topped off with dinner with my Grandma and Grandpa and Mimi at my Dad and Sandi's house. I cherish every chance I have to spend time with them and am so thankful that my Dad and Sandi arranged dinner plans with them. I really want my boys to grow up knowing their Great-Grandparents as well as their Grandparents. It was a great visit, we had so much fun and I'm thankful for all of the memories we made.

And then we visited Oma...

My mom has Fridays off work in the summer, so we were able to spend the day with her last Friday.

Even though she wasn't working, we met at her workplace after William's morning nap. She is a proud grandma and wanted her co-workers to meet William and to see how grown-up Henry has gotten. William had fun exploring Oma's office and loved all of the attention from the ladies there; Henry was pretty shy and reserved, although he rekindled his friendship with Miss. Judy (one of my mom's co-workers) and had fun playing hide-and-seek with her. They even hid once in the office of the "big boss".

Oma at her desk with William.

Henry wouldn't pose for the picture, but I got one of him anyway!

Next we went to Red Robin for lunch. They have delicious fries there - we got garlic/Parmesan fries with our meal and the best part is that they're unlimited. After lunch it was close to nap time and the boys both fell asleep in the van. We decided to drive out to the house where my mom has been living with her close friends. It's out in peaceful, farmland, so it was a bit of a drive and both boys had good naps. The highlight of our afternoon was riding in their golf cart. Everyone but William took turns driving it. I think I might offer to take Patrick golfing now - I love driving the cart! Henry loved it too, and got pretty adventurous. By the end, he was begging us to let him stand up in the back while we drove.

Henry and Oma in the golf cartOma and William

William got so cozy in the golf cart, he fell asleep in Oma's arms. This picture was taken just before his little snooze.

And the fun didn't end there! We were fortunate to visit Sara, Gabe, Caleb and Norma (Sara's mom). Sara and the boys were in town for a playdate with some of their friends. We had pizza at Norma's house and the boys had so much fun playing outside together. Gabe and Henry rode their bikes up and down the driveway in between bites of pizza. And William and Caleb played on a big blanket together. I just love those two boys - I'm crazy about my nephews. They are both so precious. It was fun to be able to play with them before heading back home.

Silly GabeCutie Caleb

Gabe and Henry

Riding back up the driveway.

We had a great day together. The boys fell fast asleep in the van and slept for the drive home. They both transferred to their beds at home and slept great that night! It was nice to be home and in our own beds again, but we had such a great time and loved having the chance to spend time with the people that we love!

3-year well checkup

I am so proud of Henry! He was such a big boy at his doctor's appointment on Tuesday. And let me tell you, turning three means that there will be some new things on the agenda at the doctor's office. One of them being peeing into a cup. He cooperated with the nurse and stood on the scale and even willingly climbed on to the exam table to have his blood pressure taken. I brought a mini-Magna Doodle for him to play with while we waited and he was drawing pictures when the doctor finished with William's exam and called him over to the table for his. He said, "Umm, I'm concentrating right now."Just a second later though he set it down and climbed back up on to the table and cooperated with the doctor. He even had to get an unexpected finger prick/blood draw and sat on my lap unfazed for it. It was a lot to expect from him, and I'll reiterate, I'm proud of how well he did!

Henry's stats at age 3:

Height: 38 1/2 inches, 75%

Weight: 39.2 lbs, 97%

A few notes about Henry at 3:

His favorite toys are tractors and construction-type trucks. He plays more pretend with them now, rather than just driving them around the floor. He pretends to build houses, roads, and parks with his construction crew and pretends that he and Grandpa Tractor (Patrick's dad) are taking care of crops on the farm with his tractors. He usually pretends that his cousins Hannah, Isaac and Caleb are driving tractors, too.

He pretends and imitates things a lot. Last week at Holly's house I found him "painting" his toenails with some of my clear lip gloss. He was very proud of himself, and did not want me to wash them off.

He got a kids pretend shaving kit from Patrick's parents for his birthday and loves pretending to shave. His favorite part of the kit is the shaving cream. He used an entire can in one bath. I left the bathroom to grab a towel for him and came back to this scene, and a very happy Henry:

• He is a great helper and a hard worker. Anything we consider work, he loves to do. Vacuuming, sweeping, using the dustbuster, mopping, dusting, mowing the lawn with Patrick, weeding, etc. He loves to help Patrick on his projects around the house.
• He wears underwear 100% of the time! He has occasional accidents, but I think we're getting close. When he started wearing underwear, I put his diapers away and we haven't looked back. The biggest hurdle is that he doesn't tell us when he needs to go potty during the day. (He does tell us during the night and first thing in the morning) I think once he starts telling us when he needs to go, he will be officially PT. (potty trained)
• Tuesdays -Garbage Tractor Day, and Wednesdays-Garbage Day are his favorite mornings of the week. He loves to run out on the porch and watch them collect the trash.
• Veggie Tales is his favorite show to watch on TV and favorite CD to listen to in the van. He will detect any other music (even in his sleep) and request that Veggie Tales be immediately put back into the CD player.
• Mint Chip - his favorite ice cream flavor. This has become a summer treat at a nearby ice cream shop where they put little candy eyes on the kid's cones.
• He is energetic. He loves to run, climb, jump, roll, tumble, flip - anything in motion.
• He loves riding his big boy bike. He now has his sights set for being training wheel-less. He sees big kids at the park and has noticed that their bikes don't have training wheels. He has begged us to take his off.
• His favorite foods seem to be breakfast meats: sausage, bacon and pepperoni. He loves picking these toppings off pizza. His tastes are expanding though, since that won't count as a balanced diet. He loves fruit: apples, strawberries and grapes ranking highest and will try anything else on his plate. He eats the same meals we eat. He also likes water more than ever and loves getting his own out of the fridge spicket. His best meal is breakfast. He loves pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, cereal and eggs. That's always his best meal of the day.
• He's very silly and makes me laugh with his antics throughout the day. Although some of his new 3-year old antics send him to time out. He has gotten a little bit sassy since turning three and can be obstinate and stubborn. We didn't see much of the "terrible 2's", I will agree with my friends of 3-year olds - it's the "terrible 3's". Even with his defiance, I think he's starting to understand that his behavior has consequences, and he willingly walks to the time-out stair or has only a very short fit if I take something of privelege away.
• He loves reading. We read at least a dozen books a day together on most days. Some favorites are: the How Does a Dinosaur (Say Goodnight?, Go To School?, etc.) series, Henry and Mudge books, tractor/truck books, his children's Bible and I love you Stinky Face. We read books together before his nap and before bed.
• Naps. He definitely still needs his nap! He takes an afternoon nap around 1:00 and usually sleeps for 2 hours. At least once a week he sleeps for 3 hours. I never know when it will be, but those days are a treat! He goes to bed around 8:00 and usually is up without fail by 6:00 a.m. I wish it could be later, but he has such a set internal clock. In the winter we told him that he could not get up until the sunshine was out. But now, that doesn't work in our favor. Hopefully when it's winter again, he will sleep in a little bit longer.

9-month doctor's visit

Tuesday, 8.12.08, I took the boys for their well visits. I combined Henry's 3-year checkup and William's 9-month checkup. I really thought combining them made a lot of sense when I made the appointments; however, I started to lose my nerve to take them both for checkups by myself the morning of their appointment. Despite my pre-appointment jitters, everything went fine. Both boys did great. They are both healthy and growing. We are really so blessed.

William's stats:

Height: 29", 78%
Weight: 21 lbs., 10 oz., 70%

Head Circumference: 18 1/4 ", 76%

Here, there and everywhere

William is on the move. He still crawls with one leg tucked in and the other out and he is getting fast. He is pulling himself up and loves to climb into things. He will pull himself to standing either using an object or grabbing on to a standing person's legs. He also loves opening and closing doors. It is time to put up the gates and make sure that everything within his little reach is safe to be played with or chewed on.

William made a break for the pantry when I left it open while making breakfast. In just seconds he grabbed and dumped a box of angel hair pasta on the floor.

At Holly's new house, William climbed into our open suitcase.

William pulled himself up to investigate the toys.
He is desperately trying to figure out how to get up this first stair. I'm sure he will figure it out soon. I repeat, it's time for the gates to go up.
Where's William?
Peek-a-boo! He loves playing with the doors, especially this one that swings in between the kitchen and dining room.
Henry opened this cabinet to get a placemat. William quickly crawled over and pulled out as much of its contents as possible.

The Fair-est of them all

Last weekend the fair was in town and my husband, a country boy at heart, was anxious to take the boys. Patrick and Henry went together on Wednesday, the first day of the fair. Henry loved sitting on the tractors, but was most excited about seeing all of the rides. They went in the evening so all of the lights were on and everything was sparkling. Henry came home talking all about the "spinners" (translate: fair rides) and the juice he got. Then we went as a family on Saturday. William, the resident animal lover, liked seeing the animals the most. There were pigs, sheep, cows and horses. Henry enjoyed playing his first fair game and winning a stuffed dog, but mostly loved watching the booth with a man carving things out of wood with his chainsaw. Children under 5 had free admission and other admission was good for the entire day, so after dinner Patrick went back to the fair with Henry and they brought Henry's friend, Charlie. Together they rode their first ride, the train, and played another fair game. Henry came home so excited to show me his second prize of the day: another stuffed dog!

Henry and William on a tractor

Farmer Henry
Patrick teaching William and Henry about cow udders
Henry and a fair sheepPatrick and Henry playing the Duck Game
Henry getting his stuffed animal dog prize
Henry and his new stuffed dog (which now sleeps with him every night)
Henry watching the man carve wood with his chainsaw

He has now been playing with his chainsaw (from Grandma and Grandpa Bug) nonstop and telling me that he's carving things "like the man at the fair".

Have you seen this?

I shamelessly DVR The View and watch it most days, at least the "Hot Topics" at the beginning. Unfortunately, this ends up being where I learn of most of the current events and news happenings.

I saw this video on a show a few weeks ago. It's a neat video and thank you Whitney for adding such emotion to the event.