Sunday, October 31, 2010

Fun in Fort Dodge!

We made the drive to Iowa this past weekend to visit my family in Fort Dodge. We had a great time. Aaron and Maggie LOVE spending time with Nanny & Papa, Amy, Dan, Brett, & Claire, and Tony, Angie, Emma, Jacob, & Olivia. The kids had a blast playing together and were really good all weekend, despite Aaron having an ear infection. The 6 hours in the car is a little rough, but Aaron is now plenty happy watching movies the entire time. Maggie doesn't love being strapped in her car seat for this length of time, but she did a good job sleeping for quite a bit of the trip each way, so that was very helpful!

Sharing some pictures of our adventure to the Apple Orchard on Saturday. The boys went golfing and Nanny needed to do some rehab for her knee, so Amy and I took the kids to the orchard to play. They had fun playing in the sand, riding the pedal tractors, feeding the goats, climbing around on the pumpkins, and eating some yummy caramel apples.














Sunday, October 24, 2010

Strange nap

Aaron has been having some issues with his night sleeping and nap times in the past couple of weeks. Last week on Thursday night he was very whiny and I thought that he felt a little warm. I took his temp and it was 103! We went to he doctor that night to find out that he has infection in both of his ears. Poor guy didn't complain once, unfortunately. Now that he is on meds and is on the mend, he seems to be sleeping better at night already (knock on wood). Hoping that naps improve too- we'll see!

One day last week, Aaron was fighting me on taking his nap and kept coming out of his room. It finally got quiet upstairs and I went up there to find him napping on the bathroom floor!


*Notice that he put his beloved monkey up on the counter?!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pumpkin fun

Chris, Amy, & Asher came over this past weekend to carve pumpkins with us. We had a good time and ended up with some pretty cool pumpkins!


Hard at work!

Chris, Amy, Asher, and their masterpiece!

Tim, Aaron, and I are working on our pumpkins. (Maggie was napping!)

Aaron chose the shapes for the eyes, nose, and mouth and I helped him draw them on the pumpkin and carve them in. He did a great job!

Aaron requested a Frankenstein and Daddy provided this work of art!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Boo at the Zoo

We took the kids to the Halloween/Fall celebration at the Brookfield Zoo last weekend. Our friends joined us (Kate, Matt, Connor, & Sawyer and Amy, Chris, & Asher) and we had a fun day. I didn't take very many photos, but did manage to get a couple.

They had a Power Wheels driving track for the kids to drive the vehicles around. Aaron decided that he wanted to drive the pink Barbi jeep! I took these pictures right before he hit the gas and crashed into the Cadillac Escalade that was in front of him! I'm thankful these things don't get going too fast! The boys thought they were pretty cool while they were driving around the track.



Here we are posing by the corn maze. Maggie was so interested in the pumpkins that she couldn't look up for our photo!

Our friends the Niedfeldt's- Matt, Kate, Connor, & Sawyer

Monday, October 11, 2010

Go Northwestern!

We had the pleasure of attending a tailgate this weekend before the Northwestern vs. Purdue game. It was a beautiful 80 plus degree day in October and we all had a great time! Sharing some pictures of the fun.


Dad and his little NU fans- take one!

Take two....

Take three....

Take four! Good thing they are all cute!

Maggie is looking adorable in her little NU cheerleading dress!

Enjoying a few puffs on the blanket.

Here are the littlest fans at the tailgate- Aaron, Maggie, Jack (Phil & Angela's little boy) and Drew (Dan and Hilary's son).

We keep trying for that perfect photo, though we already know that there is no way that we'll get 4 kids to all look at us for a picture!



Tim went on to the game while Aaron, Maggie, & I head home. No worries, there's a bit more fun to be had once we get there!



Aaron decides to have a 'crawling race' with Maggie! He tells me, "Mom, I was the winner, but she's pretty fast!" Watch out, Aaron!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Second child

For weeks I have been meaning to do an update post about what our little lady, Miss Maggie, is up to these days. I used to update on Aaron's new skills and tricks all the time.... Maggie is definitely a second child! These two keep us pretty busy, so there is definitely less time for blogging these days!

Maggie is proving to be a real go getter and is reaching her physical milestones really early. She rolled from her back to her stomach for the first time at 2 months old and from her stomach to her back at 3 months. Maggie started sitting with support at 4 months and sitting unsupported at 5 1/2 months old. She started scooting/army crawling with her arms at 4 1/2 months old and full on crawling at 5 months. At 5 1/2 months old, Maggie started pulling herself up on furniture and anything else she could get her hands on.

At Maggie's 6 month check-up, she weighed in at 18 lbs and 8 ounces (75th percentile) and was 27 inches long (75th percentile). She is wearing mostly 9-12 month clothes.

At 6 1/2 months old, Maggie is getting around like a pro and doing her best to keep up with her older brother! She will crawl from room to room, following us around! She loves to pull herself up on your legs when she reaches you and whine at your feet until you pick her up! Maggie loves to be held, much more than Aaron ever did. We are pretty sure that if she could talk right now, 90% of what she would be saying would be 'I want Mommy' and 'pick me up'!

Maggie is happy most of the time, unless she is tired, hungry, or wants to be held! She loves to watch Aaron, try to take his toys (already), chew on anything and everything that she can get her hands on (shoes are her favorite), and crawl around and pull herself up on anything she can reach. Did I mention that her favorite thing is to be held by her Mommy? She loves it when you sing her songs, particularly The Wheels on the Bus and Pat a cake. Maggie likes to take baths and loves to splash her hands in the water. She doesn't really like being in her carseat very much, but tolerates it by playing with a toy until she falls asleep! She loves to eat, but doesn't really love spending much time in her high chair. She loves to laugh at her daddy and often makes a really loud noise on inhalation. She does this hilarious thing where she wrinkles her nose up and sucks air in through her nose over and over. (Aaron used to do the same thing when he was a baby!) She knows that it makes us laugh now, so she'll look right at you to try to engage you and make the funny face and noise until you laugh at her! So funny.

Maggie is getting to be quite the talker and babbles and babbles at us. She is a social little lady and loves to laugh and smile at us. She is going through a bit of a Mommy phase right now, but will smile at almost anyone from Mommy's arms! She does a good job of taking naps in her crib. She usually takes 2 naps in her crib and often takes a little cat nap in the car in the late afternoon.

Maggie eats and drinks like a champ! She drinks 7 ounce bottles usually 5 times per day. She is now eating 2 meals- one cereal (oatmeal or rice) and one fruit or veggie. She has eaten all of the first food veggies and is almost through the first food fruits. She has loved them all and hasn't really made any funny faces at any of them! She started eating some puffs and likes to 'chase' them around her high chair tray. (She is starting to be able to use a pincer grasp to pick things up!)

Having the kids share a bedroom has proved to be a little tricky when it comes to having them both sleep through the night! Maggie usually wakes up between 3 and 5 am and ends up in our bed so that she doesn't wake Aaron up. At that point she usually makes enough noise that I make her a bottle, even though I don't actually believe that she still needs to eat in the night. She eats 3-5 ounces usually and then goes right back to sleep. For this reason, Maggie is going to be spending some time sleeping in the bedroom downstairs to see if we can get her to sleep through the night without waking up and thinking that she needs to eat or be in our bed! She is really loud... so hopefully we can get this done without waking everyone else in the house!

Maggie is an amazing little girl and has been such a wonderful addition to our family! We love you, Maggie Lynn!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

New adventures

Maggie loves to pull herself up on the stairs and can make it up a few, before Mommy comes to stop her!


Cheese!

Maggie loves to get into this magazine basket so she can eat the pages and tear pieces of paper!

This is Maggie's hilarious face! She wrinkles her nose up and breathes in really loudly, all the while looking at you and waiting for your reaction! Aaron used to do this same thing, so it's a riot that Maggie does too! We always laugh at her, so now she thinks it's funny too and will giggle and smile after she does it.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Teeth!

Maggie's first teeth are getting bigger by the day!