Random Flood Moments

Recently as I was going through my picture folder looking for ones to post from our raspberry picking trip, I realized we had some great random pictures that didn't really go together as a group. So I decided to just post some pictures of our kiddos in all of their cuteness!

Here is Miss M after a bath. She absolutely loves her bath time, every time she smiles great big and has just learned to kick her feet freely and splash!

Here she is on her first trip to the beach during Aunt J and Uncle T's trip to Milwaukee. Isn't she a bathing beauty!

Here are F, N, and Miss K enjoying the freezing cold water on the same trip. The water doesn't actually warm up enough for my liking until September when the air temperature is too cold!

In this picture Miss M is only 3 or 4 weeks old. She is visiting one of her buddies, sweet Baby A. His parents are good friends of ours and F used to work with A's mom!

Here is Miss M chilling in her stroller as we wait for N to be dismissed from school one afternoon.

Mr. N enjoying his tee-ball outing at Miller Park. Have I mentioned that he loves baseball?

N with his buddies B and A on the last day of K4. A is in his class again this year and he gets to play with B at all 3 of his recesses!

This picture was taken in late May when the kiddos and I went to the lakefront to watch the Blue Angels rehearse for the Milwaukee airshow. N was amazed how fast they went and how low they were flying.

Miss M sunbathing again. She really lives a life of luxury! This is one of my favorite outfits, it matches her eyes!

Just a random shot that shows how big her beautiful eyes are!

Relaxing at the park after one of N's tee-ball games.

Just laying on the floor being cute!

Nannie and M enjoying our little mini-vacation to Toledo, we spent lots of time playing in the yard and watching N and our niece M swinging their golf clubs!

N and his buddy T! T is our neighbor and they have so much fun together. N teaches him about Star Wars and he teaches N about dinosaurs! Yes, N's shirt is on backwards and inside out, I have no idea why!

N showing off his short waterproof cast. The waterproof feature is fantastic but unfortunately it only lasted one week before he got a marker lid stuck in the cast and it had to be changed out for another fiberglass one! Bummer!

 

 Another great picture of those beautiful eyes!

And another good picture of Nannie and M!

Half of a picture of N playing on Aunt M's great play set! He was all dressed up in a pirate costume.

This is my Mom's newest favorite picture. I just wish my niece M was looking at the camera. I have another one taken right after this one and she is the only one looking in that picture! I chose this one because my M is looking so adorable and N is actually smiling!

This is the scene I found last weekend as I was cooking. I  checked in and the kiddos were enjoying a movie together. I can't believe how M is right in there watching with N!

She is totally loving her Jenny Jump Up! It is one of her favorite places. Thanks Aunt Mayna!

This picture is totally out of sequence but it is one of my favorites. I actually bought this dress the day she was born. I had to get out of the house that day because I was convinced if I stayed home my labor would stop and I would be pregnant forever!

See you again soon!

Raspberry Picking Fun

We recently had a beautiful nearly fall Saturday afternoon with no plans. So when our church friend C called to see if we wanted to pick some raspberries with her, we were game! We headed south near Kenosha to find Thompson Strawberry Farm. N and I were having a great time picking and planning to make a cobbler. M was content to ride along in her stroller and to watch N run up and down the rows and back and forth between C and I. As you will see in one of the pictures, I am pretty sure he was sampling the berries instead of putting them all in the basket! Although there was a large patch to pick from, the bushes were over picked by the time we were there, according to C. N and I were clueless and thought we were doing great! We left with one pint which was just what we needed to make our cobbler. Sorry, I didn't take a picture of it before N and I finished it off!

What do you think, are those raspberry stains on his mush?

Here is Miss M proudly displaying her pint of berries!

This is our friend C. She is a great lady, but she has questionable taste in baseball teams! I have told her that I really shouldn't be seen with her when she is wearing that hat!

Here is our take! They certainly were tasty!

Little Floodies First Foods

Since we talked last, N has mastered the whole Kindergarten thing and absolutely loves it! He is up each morning around 6:30 and ready to head out the door. Now if I could just get him to sleep another half hour we would be doing great! He is well into the swing of school and I keep getting excellent reviews from his teacher. I don't know if I mentioned that his school, despite being 300 miles from Cumberland County, is called Cumberland. Instead of the Pirates, the mascot is the Cougar! He is so proud that his school has the same name as Mom and Dad's old school!

F is knee deep in his semester already. Each year seems to be crazier than the last. He will have his next to last tenure review at the beginning of next month. He is already nervous about it, but I know he will do great! He works so very hard and God has blessed him with the ability to teach a subject he loves. Now if we could just eliminate the politics that go with the job we will be golden!

Little Miss M has been doing well. At her 4 month check-up she was slightly smaller than the doctor would have liked, so we started her on cereal at about 4 1/2 months and she loved it. We went back 2 weeks later for a weight check and the cereal had done the trick. Although she is still in the lower percentiles, the doctor was pleased she had gained 9 ounces in 14 days. He would have expected her to only gain about 7, so we were happy. Despite the success, he recommended that she go ahead and start solids since she had done so well with the cereal. As you will see in one of the pictures, she is so tiny in her high chair, but she eats like a giant! She eats atleast 3 servings at each setting. After doing some reading and being inspired by some Momma friends, I have been making M's food. I have had so much fun and discovered culinary skills I never knew I had. Of course, it doesn't take much skill to bake something and then puree it, but none the less it has turned out well! Her first  meal was avacado which she inhaled from the first bite.

Obviously, they don't take much preparation. I just cut them and mash them with a fork and then puree in the food processor for the right consistency. Here they are before the processor:

Here is Miss M waiting ever so patiently for her first taste! A quick note about her first feeding. I remember N's first feeding, it was F's birthday and we gave him green beans. F and I both were right there watching and photographing each bite. I think there are a few pages worth of pictures in the album. But poor Miss M's was a Friday afternoon when only she and I were home. I was the only one to take pictures and I only took a few. The poor second child, I hope she won't be too badly scarred!

After she mastered the avacados and we waited the necessary 3 days to make sure she didn't have an allergic reaction, it was time to move on to sweet potatoes. These were N's favorite as a baby. M thinks highly of them as well! I baked and prepared these on Labor day because it was a cool and rainy day. The house smelled wonderful all day.

From my reading and other Mom's advice, I have found that the ice cube trays work perfectly for freezing the foods. The portions are approximately an ounce and they travel really well for when we are on the move!

She has since also tried bananas and butternut squash. The squash was by far the best consistency that I had managed yet, but still seems to be M's least favorite. I keep offering it to her and she keeps screaming throughout the feeding. With a side of bananas at the ready I can manage to get atleast one ounce down her. Today I baked an acorn squash and it was a big hit! N even thought it would make a tasty meal! I also repenished her supply of sweet potatoes. Next I will steam and puree apples, if N doesn't eat them all first! Here is the beautiful butterbut squash (that M won't eat!)

I have tons of pictures that we have taken around the house of the kiddos that I will share with you soon and some priceless videos of Miss M! Thank you for checking in on us, talk to you soon!

First Day for the Little Floodies!

N reached a whole new level this week! F and I did at the same time. We are now parents of a Kindergartner. Seriously, how did that happen? Wasn't it just yesterday that he was the same age as Miss M? He was so ready to start. He is ready to learn and is such a little sponge. I sometimes wonder if he has a photographic memory! I know every crow thinks hers is the blackest, but really the boy is super sharp! He was awake and getting ready before his Dad and I that morning. As he was finishing up all of his jobs that morning, he headed down the stairs and said, "Ok Mom, I'll see you later!" I asked if maybe his Dad and I should go along and he assured me he would be fine. I'm not sure how he thought he was going to get there but he was convinced he was taking himself. He actually cried when I told him F and I were going to take him. Needless to say he settled himself down and we headed out. His backpack was loaded with supplies, his lunch bag, and his morning snack. Here he is outside of the school.

After the picture we headed to the door to line up...and took another picture!

There he met up with some friends from his K4 class. There are 4 kids from last year in his class and a few more that he already knew. He was worried that he didn't know many kids but I assured him that this is the way we make new friends! He seems to be settling in really well. On Thursday he had to present his "Me Box" that told the class about him. He chose a small Cubs helmet, baseball, racing sausage, his sketchbook, and a Johnny Cash cd. His teacher, Ms. A, said she about lost it when he pulled out the cd. She says he is "so sweet!"

One of his favorite things about K5 is that they get 2 recesses! As soon as he is dismissed, he hits the playground behind the school where he swings forever. So far he has steered clear of the monkey bars. I have found that I can't even watch other kids play on them anymore. It just makes me so nervous! After I finally separated him from the swings and got him home, it was time to head out for supper and some errands that F needed to accomplish. N really wanted to pick where we ate, but he fell asleep before he could decide. Kindergarten is tough on a feller!

His first day of school was Wednesday, but I think Friday was his favorite day. That morning he was able to get his cast off! He still has to wear a removable splint for a few weeks, but at least it can be taken off for bath time! Thank goodness, that boy was in need of a serious scrubbin! So far he is doing well with it, when I can convince him it needs to stay on!
I should close for now, but I will be back soon with Miss M's newest first! Thanks for checking in on us!

Floods Hit the Field

I could tell you that I have been so busy doing everything for my one armed son that I haven't been able to update the blog, but if you have seen N in the last six weeks, you would know that I would not be telling the truth! He hasn't slowed down at all! He can now do anything with his left hand that he would normally do with his right ... except pick up his toys! He has told both F and I that he can't pick up his toys because he only has one hand. We have asked how he was able to get the toys out and play with them and for once he was speechless! He has been so funny lately, even more than usual. He recently told F that he has so many questions in his head that he can't get them all out. I can't imagine that he could ask more questions than he already does. I can tell he will be too smart for my answers soon! I guess I should start studying up on random facts!
Broken arm or not, nothing could have kept him from his tee-ball outing on a recent Monday night! N's coach from the summer league is a lawyer for the Milwaukee Brewers and he arranged for all of the kids and one of their parents to attend a game and batting practice. Of course I won the right to go with him as F isn't the biggest baseball fan! We had a great time! It all started when we met all of his teammates outside of the park. We took the opportunity to snap some pictures while they were in their Diamondbacks shirts.

Next we headed into the stadium to watch the Brewers take batting practice. We saw Rickie Weeks, Lorenzo Cain, Casey McGhee, and Prince Fielder hit a few out of the park! As you can see, N was enjoying himself!

As batting practice wrapped up, it was time for another team picture. This time in their new Brewers shirts the coaches gave them.

Here is N snagging a ball that Willie Randolph, the bench coach, rolled his way. He didn't put the ball down the entire game!

Next, one of the Brewers pitchers, Doug Davis, came over to talk to the kids. He came to Milwaukee from the Arizona Diamondbacks so he loved the Brewers shirts with Diamondback hats! It was so nice of him to come talk to the kids about the importance of little league and how that is where they will  develop their ball playing skills!

We enjoyed our supper in a private suite and then headed to the Kidszone to play. This is N's favorite area of the park. He loves to race Corey Hart to 1st base and to check his speed in the pitching cage. He was a few mph short since he was throwing with his left hand!  He is counting the days until the beginning of next season when he will be old enough for the batting cage! Once the game began, some of our teammates played one of the trivia games that they have throughout the night. They were on the jumbotron and answered the question correctly!

Unfortunately, the Brewers weren't quite as lucky. They lost the game to the Diamondbacks in extra innings. Oh well, we had a great time and wouldn't trade the experience for anything! N had just enough energy for one last picture before we headed for home. Here he is posing with the Time Warner Cable Roadrunner!

He managed to stay awake all the way home and gave his Dad a rundown of the whole evening! Needless to say, Little Miss M was sound asleep by the time we got home. She and her Daddy enjoyed their evening together.
I promise I will update again soon on N's first day of Kindergarten!