Sleep like a baby?

I rock Nate to sleep every night at we sing songs, but last night he was particularly wiggly, so I put him in his pack-and-play to get his wiggles out and shut the door. Usually he will just talk to him self and roll around the crib for a while, then fall asleep. Many times Chris has tried to sneak in with a video camera to record his "whale songs" that he sings while he is rolling around in there. But every time he sneaks in the door, Nate see him and cries and wants to come out. Last night we heard this banging noise coming from his room. Some times he hits his binki or his water cup against the wall so I didn't think anything of it. Chris went to peak in and said he had a pole. I assumed that it was a hanger- his pack and play is by the closet door and I sometimes put hangers on the door knob. Chris wanted to go in, but I knew it would elicit cries, and since he was happy and safe, I said just leave him alone. After he was sound asleep we both went it and I immediately had to leave the room because I burst out in laughter. Our laundry sorter was in his bedroom- ya know, the ones that have 3 bags for different colors of clothes and a frame to hold up the bags. Well, I have no idea how, but Nate dismantled the frame and had the poles in his pack-and-play with him! That is what he was banging against the wall!I have no idea, no idea how he got the hamper close enough to the pack-and-play to dismantle it, let alone how he dismantled it!The things kids do! I am just glad that he didn't hurt himself! Silly mom, I guess I shouldn't underestimate this child.

Goodbye Zoo

We went to Family Night at the zoo on Friday for the last time. I saw my favorite teacher from high school in the parking lot as we were leaving- very random but good to see him. He knew Chris because we dated in high school. He said I was "all grown up". I never really think of myself that way, especially since when I got pregnant with Nate, Tammy from the gym thought that I was in high school. So it was nice for someone to say that I didn't look 14!
We are really going to miss Des Moines, but are very excited to get back to our home, our bed, our washer and dryer, and our FRIENDS! The next 3 days we will be frantically packing and trying to visit any places that we have not gone to thus far- mainly places we still want to eat at!

My celebrity look alikes

Cheree had this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun... although Cheree and I both have Christy Brinkley and Cheree and I look nothing alike! P.S. I finished Harry Potter- loved it!

Sugar Baby

Today on our way home from the pool, Nate and I stopped at this old school frozen custart shop that we pass on the way to church every week. Every week I would tell Chris, "We have to stop there before we move". Since we only have a week left, today was the day! Nate has never had an ice cream cone before and his eyes lit up with pure delight as I held it up for him to take his first lick. "Mmmm" he kept saying. It is so wonderful to share "firsts" with your little ones!


Nate kept pointing to the giant version of his cone on the sign saying "Mmmm" and yes, that is the entire cone stuffed into his mouth!

Bitter Sweet

Ahhhh! I am dying to read this but it seems the world is lined up against me trying to stop me from doing so! Okay, not the world just my family! Problem #1: Time! I can only read while Nate is napping because any time I try to do something "grown-up" while Nate is awake he immediately climbs on top of me and tries to get involved, i.e. emailing, reading, cooking, etc. #2 Husband! Last night we both wanted to read, but we only have one book! When book #6 came out we tried to read it together because we didn't want to take turns and that was a horrible. I gave in and said that he could finish it first. Right now he is holed up reading away while I am left to watch nothing better than golf on tv and complain about it on my blog! I do have to admit that I said that he could read right now because I will get to read tomorrow while Nate is napping and Chris is at work, but I am not sharing happily! #3: Responsibility. This is the first HP book that I have not been able to just dive in to and read from cover to cover. I have people to take care of , things I have to do that won't wait to find out if Harry dies. Is anyone else reading this or any other good books. I am dying because I am afraid that I am going to find out what happens before I get a chance to read it. My mother-in-law's friend read the last chapter before she started the book because she had to know what was going to happen. If only Nate was a little older and he would enjoy me reading it to him so that I could scratch that itch I have all day long! I have half the mind to go steal that book from my husband right now....

Birthday Bash

Here are a few pictures from Nate's birthday party. We are so grateful to live in Iowa close to family so that we could have them share this day with us. Nate loves his cousins and it made his day extra special that all of them could be there . We also had both grandmas, Grandpa Steve, Uncle Ben, Aunt Erica, Uncle Chris aka Bubba, Great Grandma Jo, Aunt Dazi and second cousin Elise.You can really see in some of these pictures how much Nate and Lauren love each other. So cute!I know some of the pictures are kinda small but if you click on the image you can view them in a larger format... at least I can on my computer.

Our Weekend

Nate is going through this thing where he likes to carry this blue bucket around with him all the time. When we go to the pool. He just walks around the pool with his bucket! Funny guy!
This is us this morning as we took dad to work. We were running a little late but Nate still insisted on walking to the car himself (and carrying his bucket of course). And p.s. that is a SJP Bitten original :)












We did it! I ran my first race! Lots of people were giving me a hard time about running a marathon without ever running any other race beforehand. So I ran a 5K last weekend. We went up to my parents Friday night for a family reunion that was later in the weekend. When we got there they told me my little brother was running in the morning. So I went with him at 6am Saturday and registered and ran it! Woo hoo! So there ya go guys! Now I have run a race before the marathon.

This is my "baby" (ha, he's a good 6" taller than me) brother and me after the race. I was rep-ing Gold's for my dad's gym.

HELP!

Is anyone familiar with the PAF program? I have a couple of questions. First, where do I input alternative spellings for a name? For example: Miller and Muller. Second, if the father's surname was misspelled and I correct it, do I have to individually correct each descendent's surname as well or is there a "trump" button that I can push to have it apply to all the last names in that family? If anyone can help that would be great. I would email you individually, but I don't know who is working with PAF right now, and who isn't and I figured this would cover a bunch of people. Thanks for your help!

Confession Time

Okay, I can give you a million excuses: Nate goes to bed at 8pm and we can't go anywhere after that, we don't have cable, etc. But the truth is.... I am hooked on Age of Love on NBC Monday nights. If you haven't seen it, it is a dating show where 1/2 of the women are in their 20's and 1/2 of the women are in their 40's and the bachelor is, I think, 31. I especially liked last weeks elimination because he just cut to the chase, he just walked into the girls' apartment and told 2 of them they were going home- much different than the 45 min of elimination on The Bachelor. I know there has got to be someone else who watches this... Cheree? If anyone does watch it, who is your favorite?


7-17-07
Okay, I am sorry if anyone watched it last night because I said it was entertaining... it wasn't so good last night. Drama, drama and long elimination... and next week looks like it will be even trashier. The first few episodes there was no kissing and he seemed like a stand up guy, but I guess things are changing. ..

SMITTEN WITH BITTEN

On Saturday my mom took me to the most amazing store at, you will never guess, WESTDALE MALL in CEDAR RAPIDS! The store is called Steve and Barry's. I guess it has been there for 2 years and we never knew about it (sorry Cheree, Hayley, Brooke and all others that have moved!) What makes it so amazing? Well, to start, my heart was racing as I filled my shopping cart with clothes- every thing is so cute and so cheap! Their shirts were all really long, so I don't have to wear a cami to extend the length. Shirts were 2 for $12. They had cute, cute shorts. Shorts and capris were 2 for $22. Earings were something like $1.50. Jeans were $12. Shoes were $10 or less. I could go on, but you have to check it out for yourself! These are not sale prices- sale prices were $2 or so. I will model a couple of outfits when Chris gets home from work tonight and post the pics. Oh and Sarah Jessica Parker's new line Bitten is exclusively carried here. I saw it on Oprah a few months ago. Click here to check it out. Her stuff was a little more expensive (shirts were $8 instead of $6) but there were a little more detailed and definitely cuter! I could have spent a fortune in there because the clothes were Target price for a Gap quality. I have been really pleases with my items so far. If any of them fall apart, I will post and put a disclaimer about them, but until then- go to their website and see if there is one near you! If not, don't worry, they are expanding rapidly. I think I read that they opened 100 stores or so last year alone! So keep watching. They are the fastest growing mall clothings store right now. They go into vacant department store lots in malls- so they are huge! 2 stories with kids clothes and outerwear and guys clothes- nice silk ties for $8! I think their clothes prices were the same as womens- so tops for 2 for $12, etc. Which is great because my husband is like a little boy- he is so hard on his clothes we are constantly patching them or throwing them out!
The picture in the top left corn is of the exterior of the store. It caught me off guard because it looks so blah- so keep your eyes open. If you are going to the one in CR coming off of Hwy. 30 it is the first store you come to. Across the street from Wendy's. Happy shopping!

SUPER NATE

True story. One night we went to good will to look for a steering wheel for Nate's stroller, or something with one that we could cut off and put on Nate's stroller when Chris spotted a Super Man costume. Immediately when Chris pulled it off the rack Nate started to laugh and was really hyper- the bright colors maybe? or he felt Chris' excitement? Who knows. But we rushed home because we couldn't wait to get it on him. He ran around like a crazy man and was laughing so hard he could hardly walk! It was the most entertainment I have ever got out of $1!

We're so glad when Daddy comes home!

We have found so much happiness in Des Moines and I know much of that is because our daddy is home a lot- and not studying when he is home! Nate and Chris have become best buds this summer; he is truly a Daddy's boy (even though he wants me when he's tired he says "dad" the whole time I am rocking him to sleep!) Chris has been really good at waiting to entertain his hobbies (i.e. golf, Halo) until Nate is in bed and it has really made a difference. Nate's smile is so much brighter when Chris is around, he laughs more easily and is soothed more quickly. Nate loves to tackle Chris and tickle him. He loves to offer Chris food, but when Chris opens his mouth, Nate takes it away and eats it himself and then laughs! They chase each other around and around our tiny apartment. They cuddle on this huge stuffed animal (dog) that Chris bought Nate (you gotta see this- it's so big, I will post a picture tonight). Chris acts out Nate's bedtime stories (which is even entertaining for me!) Yesterday while we were in IC Chris set up a baby pool at the bottom of the slip and slide. Nate didn't like the spraying water of the slip and slide so he sat in the pool at the bottom and Aunt Dazi and dad would slide down into the pool and Nate loved it! He would tackle them when they arrived. Chris is always thinking of fun things to do with Nate... some I have to hold my breath because they are a little dangerous, but I have to give it to him- He's such a fun dad! I have never felt joy or happiness like this before. I have heard so many of you guys say to just love being a mom. And I do, but I think a lot of it is that I love being married to an amazing dad. It is so fulfilling to see your baby snuggle with your spouse. I am sure you guys all know what I am talking about, it is a feeling that is hard to describe, but I have had it a lot this summer. And for that DM will always have a special place in my heart. We love you Dad!

MONKEY BOY

Since Nate was a baby (ha, obviously he still is.. since he was a newborn) Chris has affectionately called him Monkey Boy. This past week he has lived up to his name. We had just returned from a walk and I left the stroller out and Nate started to climb on it. I quick grabbed the camera in case he would actually be able to do it and watched (at a very close distance so that I could catch him- don't worry- my child's safety comes before a good photo op!) He used the end table and climbed over the lap tray and into the stroller. Then he looked out the window and yelled "Dad" because we watch for Chris out the window when it is time for him to come home from work. It was so cute and so funny. So next I moved the stroller away from the window thinking that it would remove the temptation for him to climb on it.

No such luck. I guess it presented a new challenge to him to climb in without the help of the table. He climbed in from the front this time. Finally, I collapsed it down hoping that would end this dare-devil episode of his and he found that all too easy. I think I am going to be in trouble with this little guy. If he is climbing like this when he is one, he will probably be up in trees by his next birthday!

Where are we?

In Des Moines! We are having so much fun in Des Moines this summer. The first week was a little scary being completely on my own with Chris at work all day, but we have really enjoyed Des Moines. It is a great place for families. There are probably 50 parks, 20 of them have wading pools- which is perfect for Nate. They have a zero-entry, sprinklers, the works! And the water only gets 12.5" deep so Nate is free to roam. Plus, we love the zoo. It is great for young kids and we usually go 2x a week.... I know this seems extreme, but we live really close, we bought a pass and my dad brainwashed me to be a penny pincher so I tell myself "Every time I go that season pass is a little cheaper!" And Nate loves it! If anyone is interested in moving here/ taking a day trip let me know and I will give you some tips or you are welcome to come to the zoo with us! We will be here until August 2nd if anyone wants to come visit. There is an amazing farmer's market downtown Saturday mornings. They close down a bunch of streets- it feels a lot like a carnival- food, music, lots of people, fresh kettle corn- yum!

Ta Da!

I know I have been dragging my feet about this... but I finally made a blog! I love reading updates on all of your blogs since we are all off in different places right now. I thought I should share what we're up to.