29 months

Yikes, my big baby is almost 30! ;)

Ah, my Patrick. My first born. My little boy.
He is full of spirit, funk, fun and a little sass.
Eating
His favorite food lately is chicken nuggets and really anything he can dip. He is great at eating fruit, but not so good with veggies.
Sleeping
Not a good time to write about this. He naps about 3 hours but still gets up at night. Who knew we would still have a newborn at 2.5 years? Someday perhaps he'll sleep through the night again. Going to bed is also a struggle but bedtime routine is pretty fun. A bath, a book and a song. He is a master at stalling. We still read books and sing each night. Curious George is by far the favorite along with "Wheels on the Bus". That kid knows all the verses and can almost read George to us!

Playing
Imatation is the name of every game lately. He imitates mommy and daddy. So his favorite activies are "cookin' hamburgers" "takin' pictures" "washing baby" and of course he still loves to mow the lawn. Here is some of Patrick in action.



He also loves his little sister to death lately. Almost smothering her with kisses and hugs a few times a day! He also loves his daddy. Thank goodness for daddy's.


After the first night of football, he insisted on wearing his "touchdown" shirt to bed for a couple nights. Guess it was a hit.

He is a great little guy, so fun to be around. He also has his ups and downs and shaking up his routine typically doesn't go so well, so you can imagine life for him right now with mom at home and a new baby sister. He is doing his best to adjust and we are doing our best to adapt to his ups and downs. Luckily he is super verbal now so we are able to talk things out a bit more and understand each other a little better.

What a great kid!

2 months

Annika turns 2 months. Gone is my little squishy baby, but she is replaced with a cooing, smiling fun baby.

Compare to her one month on the right.
She weighs in at almost 12lbs now. She is such a good baby. She sleeps from about 9:30-6:30 and then up to eat briefly before sleeping again until about 9am.


She is a great eater. She eats often, but is very efficient when she does.

(look at the eyelashes on this girl!)
She does like her pacifier when she first falls asleep, but it typically doesn't last long after she is out.

In the evenings she is less fussy since we realized she didn't want to be held, but instead put down to play and stretch out.

Unfortunatly she is sick for the first time today. She has a nasty cough, we'll check in with the dr. later to make sure we can keep it under control.



Annika is modeling an outfit of mine!
Patrick is a great big brother with her. Constantly getting her to smile and coo at him. He loves showing her off to others as well.
She is a joy to have around, and we are lucky parents indeed!

playdate with Miles and Shay and some extras

We had a fun night at the park last night. The kids were great and they didn't mind the mosquitos nearly as much as the parents did!





And of course the super dads and one super mom!

Annika was there as well, just didn't make the photo cut this time! So, here are a couple of her from yesterday...
My big girl!

Modeling some of my handywork.

Long trip to SD

We made the long trek out to SD this past week. First stop was Brookings to see the Bliss family.
We had a first visit with Great Grandma Hilma and another visit with Great Grandpa Gilbert.

Isn't Annika getting big? At 6 weeks she weighed in at 11lbs and now this week she is almost 12-13!
Patrick just cracks me up when he imitates me taking pictures.

He had so much fun playing with Ryan's old wind up toys and old cars.


He also got in some reading time!
Our next stop was the lake to see my family. Ryan left us in Brookings and my parents brought the three of us to the lake.
Patrick enjoyed his new rain boots and playing in the sand.


Annika enjoyed just hanging out on the floor.

We had lunch for my birthday at a really fun little place.

Patrick learned to fish for the first time. He was so excited about it. We hardly got a bite, but it was still fun.

We had a visit from Nikki and her family, so fun to have all our kiddos together.

And who couldn't love little Nora? So cute!

Lastly, I enjoyed a beautiful evening with my boy. Love this kid.



On our way home we had a great visit with Great Grandma Gladys. She just adored Annika and didn't want to put her down. Amazing the arm strength she had to hold her as well.

then and now and a playdate

Annika at 6 weeks:

Patrick at 2 weeks:


We had Rachel's family over for dinner the other night. Crazy how when we are all together we are a party of 8!
It took us 3 strollers to get to the park.
Shay, Alyssa, Patrick and Annika

Alyssa at 4 months weighs in at 10lbs, Annika at 6 weeks weighs in at 11lbs!

And the moms

Birth Video

I finally got my birth video uploaded. All G-rated photos taken by Jacksprat Photography. Enjoy!