2/17 Firefighter

2/16 bison

We woke up early enough on Saturday to go out to breakfast as a family. Afterward, Hal decided he wanted to take a drive with no destination. Luke did not like this and kept asking when we were going to go home. We happened upon the sign for Big Bone State Park and decided to turn in to see if we could see the Bison!

I haven't been to Big Bone since I was in 5th grade and on a field trip. I have a picture of that trip somewhere and should post it one day.

Anyway, we saw that the bison observation was only .2 miles away. Despite it being 28 degrees F, we thought we would make the trip. Luke wasn't dressed warmly enough so I put my coat on over his coat (I had another coat with me), and we wrapped Nathan in a blanket.

It was COLD. But we saw bison! So that was fun.

2/15 Wrestling!

The boys are now starting to rough house together.

2/14 valentines

Nathan and Layla are best buds. Layla really seems to like Nathan better than she ever did Luke. We often wonder why that would be -- is she just better used to babies now? Regardless, they like to play together and this picture really sums up their relationship. (Nathan is sans clothes because he had just finished lunch and his outfit was covered in squashed bananas.)

I got some little Valentines together for the boys and Hal.

2/11 cheating

Sorry weight watchers.

2/10 the sick

Poor hal and Luke were felled by a stomach bug.

2/9 stripping

Sounds more fun than it is.

(can't wait to see what google searches I get for this post.)

2/8 playing.

2/7 The Park

As part of my fitness goals for the year, I have decided to take a walk whenever it is above 50 degrees. My temperature requirement comes not from myself but because of the boys. I don't want them to be too cold just for the sake of me wanting to walk.

Well, Thursday was GORGEOUS. It was almost 60 degrees and I was able to walk with just a sweatshirt. We decided to hit the road when we got home from picking up Luke from school.

I made the impromptu decision to walk down to the park. I saw down because it's pretty much a huge hill down to the park. It's 1 mile away (I checked later with my car), which wouldn't be too bad except for the hill.

Let me tell you, walking down a hill while holding a dog and about 75 lbs of stroller is not easy. It was all I could do to keep the stroller from getting away from me on the steepest parts.

I should have paid more attention. But the stroller was too wide to see.

The bump.

A part of the sidewalk had sunk and left a several inch straight up cliff between it and the next piece of sidewalk.

I hit that cliff going fast because it was downhill.

My strollers wheels were too small. They stopped.

But the rest of us kept going! All of the sudden I was flying over the handlebars as the stroller pitched forward, almost going upside down. I fell to the side and hit the ground next to Nathan.

Layla was confused. A car traveling alongside me on the road paused perhaps a little bit longer at the stop sign and then kept going when it saw me starting to stir. 

I pulled myself up and struggled to upright the stroller. I pulled back the canopy and two sets of eyes looked at me. Not a peep. Luke had his hand on the ground, bracing himself. Nathan was just sitting there, and I'm thankful that we still had him in the shoulder straps or else he would have probably fallen out.

I got them upright. No one was worse for wear. My pride might have been a little hurt.

So we continued to the park. Where Luke climbed the crazy ladder thing like a big boy and Nathan loved the swing.

And then we walked home. Slowly. My shoulders hurt for days, and I had a big bruise on my elbow. But what an adventure!

2/6 9 Months

We finally got around to taking Nathan's 9 Months pictures!



At 9 Months, Nathan:

~Was 28.5 inches long and 20 lbs, 2 oz. (He's in the 42nd percentile for weight and the 58th for length)
~Claps
~Plays Patti Cake
~Cruises
~Takes one or two steps without holding on
~Seems to be saying DADADA a lot
~Will squeal in response to other squeals or children
~LOVES to play with/climb on/laugh at Luke
~Likes to be chased through the house
~Wants to climb the stairs all the time
~Is very drooly and chewy
~Loves bananas

2/5

Until we get furniture, our dining room is a sports arena. Here, Luke pitches.

2/4 Qdoba

2/3

Climbing on gammy!

2/2 a big day. Kidsfest!

We ended the day at a carnival for kids held at my old grade school. KidsFest was a happening place when I was a little kid -- in fact, it was where I received my first Valentine present from a boy. 5th grade, a stuffed rabbit (won at KidsFest, no less!).

It was PANDEMONIUM in there. Kids everywhere. Lots of games and fun. Luke got his first face painting done. What did he get? A baseball of course!

2/2 a big day. Nap!

Nathan has been having some trouble sleeping lately. So when he woke up early from his nap, I brought him into our bed to hold him. He slept for longer and then woke up with this AMAZING bed head.

2/2 a big day. Snow!

Saturday was a very busy day in our household. We woke up to SNOW! Luke desperately wanted to make a snow man, but the snow was not suited to that. Instead, we made snow angels.

Luke's first attempt did not have very good form. So I made one and then helped him make one beside me:

Nathan even got in on the snow action.

He was not happy about it. WE took him in right after this picture. We think he would have been fine but Luke was excited to see his brother and accidentally got snow on his face.

2/1 best buds

Layla has grown accustomed to Nathan so much quicker than she did to Luke. We think it might have something to do with understanding that he is here to stay and she might as well just get used to it! She and Nathan are good buddies. They play with each other a lot.

1/31 basketball

Well, it is one way to move the hoop.

1/30 stairs

Conquered.