Baby Boy Turns 10 Months Old

7/27/2016 


  
 This little boy is growing. He's 10 months old now and it seems like he's grown a lot this month. He's started eating more baby foods (up to 4 4-oz cartons daily) and nursing less. 


What do you think? Does he look like his daddy?


He's sleeping better than ever. He now sleeps 12 hours at night, waking just once for a feeding around 2 am. He now naps in the morning for about 1 hour and in the afternoon for about 2 hours. He definitely naps best at home in his crib. His naps are always cut short if we're driving and he sleeps in his car seat. 


Happy baby with mom. He still loves me the most, but is learning to be ok with other people too. In these pictures his hair looks dark, but it has lightened up quite a bit. 


He likes to walk in his walker. He gets around very quickly. Here he is walking around the living room and reaching the computer keyboard. Let the fun begin! 


This month he learned to enjoy sitting on the floor. Such a simple thing but he did not like to be set down at all until now. He spins around on his butt so he can reach more things. And he has started to scoot on his butt to get around. He does not crawl yet. He's close to it, so maybe within the next month. Up until now, he stays put generally where I set him down... that will all change soon enough!


This month he took his first trip to the zoo, as well as his first real vacation (to Wisconsin Dells). 

Happy 10 months, little buddy! 
We are so glad you're a part of our family!

Wisconsin Dells Vacation

7/21/2016 
 
We took a 3-day vacation last week to visit the Mt Olympus Resort at Wisconsin Dells.


We had great weather for all of our activities. We spent most of our time at the indoor water park, which seemed to be our favorite. The older kids liked the big snake-like water slides.


 I LOVED the lazy river. And there were wading pools and splash pads for the littlest kids to enjoy too.


We had a very cool room with two queen beds and a set of bunk beds. 


Of course, the kids loved the bunks.


There's a huge scene painted on the one wall of the room, giving the feeling of being right in Rome. Very life-like and real looking.

We had watched some Wisconsin Dells promo videos before our visit. Hence my oldest two kids went around saying "Hashtag - love the dells!" :-)   They had high expectations and were not disappointed. Maybe next time we'll be able to explore the addition half of Mt Olympus that we never made it too. That place is simply huge! 

Wisconsin Visit

7/20/2016


We recently spent a week visiting family in Wisconsin. 


We spent a few days with my mom, which was very nice. She's a great hostess when our big ole crew of 6 shows up! 


We had a family wedding to attend, which was a great opportunity to visit with extended family members we rarely see. Congratulations, Adam and Bethany!


The wedding also meant dressing up. Here's our crew dressed up, with an unhappy baby who was just woken up.


And me, my baby boy and niece Trinity. She looks like she could be one of mine with the dark hair! 


Here's my littlest guy having fun playing on the kitchen floor.



A few shots of my older kids playing at the local park. 




And playing in Grandma's backyard. We had some very nice weather with plenty of opportunities for playing outside in the sandbox or on the swingset.


My oldest daughter being her usual silly self.



My mom enjoyed time with the littlest ones.


She's a master at Dr. Seuss...


And doing fingernails too!



One of my all-time favorite things to do with my mom - to let her play with my hair. No better feeling than having her comb and style my hair! So she did a few fun braids for me during our visit.


And a small braid in my oldest daughter's short hair.

We had lunch with my dad, which was also nice. He had some veggies ready to pick out of his garden boxes so we helped with that. And he has a trampoline in the backyard which my older kids hopped on right away.


Oh... and our van turned 100,000 miles during this vacation! A picture-worthy occasion that makes the highlight reel! 


My little guy and me. Love him so!


He was so tuckered out during the long drive home! 

We are so thankful for getaways... and thankful to be back home again too! 

Let Freedom Ring!

7/4/2016 

Let Freedom Ring!


We had a wonderful 4th of July celebration! 


We enjoyed our neighbor parade - an annual event that is a highlight of our year! 


Here are the decorated bikes all lined up in the foreground while the MC was calling all veterans up front for a round of applause. There are doughnuts and popcorn for everyone - around 500 people, we guessed! 


My in-laws and one niece joined us for the parade. And our neighbor Sarah is a faithful friend who piggy-backed our kids when we needed a break. :-)


Happy Independence Day to one and all!
God, bless America and America, bless God!

Trip to the Zoo

7/1/2016 


 
 We recently took a trip to the zoo! 


It'd been a DECADE or so since our whole family went to the zoo, with my husband included. We had a great time. The weather was perfect. The zoo wasn't too busy, since we went early in the morning. 


My little lady is 2 and had been to the zoo last year but didn't remember it, so it was all new again to her.



This was also the first time my 9-month-old boy visited the zoo. They have a petting farm section, that is perfect for the little kids to interact with the animals up close. 


Fun times all around!