Sunday, September 30, 2012

Cadillac Fun

Jason has been on the hunt for months now for his next 'toy'. He did the research, he knew what he wanted, it was just the matter of finding the *right* one. Two weeks ago he found one that (mostly) fit the bill. It doesn't have a back seat to accommodate our family and it isn't street legal, but those are all things that can be added. Once we brought it home we decided we needed to plan a weekend to go up north and put the Commander to use. Turns out our friends we're hoping to head up to Cadillac for the weekend to stay at a family member's cabin and do some trail riding.
 
With much excitement a little bit of crazy, things were quickly packed on Saturday morning. The boys loaded up the toys and we hit the road. The kiddos could hardly contain themselves- Emma was so excited to have a sleep over with Max, Wes and Ayla. Upon arrival at the cottage the men were chomping at the bit to get riding. So we sent them on their way with the promise that they'd return before it got too late so we could get everyone fed.
 
Unfortunately, Brad had a small breakdown when his belt busted which put a minor damper on the evening. We hit Culver's for dinner and then searched the area for a place that sold Polaris parts. One store existed locally, but they were locked up tight for the night with no hours listed. The men were not to be deterred though. We headed back to the cottage to come up with a game plan and let the little ones settle in for the night.

 


Sunday morning started bright and early when the guys hit the road to drive 2 hours round trip to Baldwin for the necessary RZR part. The ladies started at a bit more leisurely pace since the temperature out was a whopping 36 degrees. We did not feel that we had enough layers to battle the outdoors right away! So we dined on massive donuts instead.

No, Weston is not having cake for breakfast- that's about a quarter of one donut. These things were the size of dinner plates and so nummy!
We were finally able to send the kids outside to play


Once the temperature became bearable, we loaded up the kids and hit a local park for them to run off some energy.
Easton was happy to hang out int he stroller and watch
Hunting for the perfect rocks to throw int he water

We returned to the cottage in time for the kiddos to load up and take a quick spin around the lake with their daddies. I'm not sure who had more fun!
 
The wives each took a turn before we left as well. While I hope it brings Jason lots of enjoyment, I look forward to the day when we can all ride our own quads. Going through the trails at 50 mph isn't my idea of a relaxing afternoon! I have no problem going fast per say, but I enjoy it much more when I'm at the wheel.
 
Thanks to the Meiste's for setting up the trip and making everything fall into place. We had a great time and look forward to many more trail riding adventures!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Preschool Assistance

A certain little lady tries to help out around our house. Love her dearly and appreciate her help, but please leave mommy's toothbrush alone!
This is what happens when you jam the toothbrush cover on...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

School Daze Have Begun!

Emma completed her first week of preschool and she's loving it! She attends a Monday/Wednesday program from Each morning she wakes up rearing to go. She has her backpack on all through breakfast. Never mind the fact that she is still in her jammies.

On her first day we had a discussion on the ride to school about proper behavior- use our words not our hands, play nice with our friends, keep our dress down. Then we said a little prayer in hopes to calm both our nerves and remind us that God is watching over us always (even when were anxious for our first day of school, mom and daughter a like!).

I was a nervous Nelly dropping her off that first time, but she gave me a quick peck on the cheek and bolted off to join her 'boyfriend' Wes without a second glance in my direction. I may have shed a tear or two in the parking lot. It pulled at this momma's heart strings yet I'm so glad she looks forward to each school day.

When I picked her up in the afternoon, I was informed by her teacher that Miss Emma either needs to wear a pair of shorts under her dresses or opt for pants. Guess that speech on the way to school didn't work... Emma informed me that she only had to move once because her and Wes were talking while they were supposed to be listening and learning their Bible verse. Those teachers sure have their work cut out! She also believes she has the right to sit next to Weston at all times, however there are other kiddos that like to sit next to him which is not okay with her. So glad she has a buddy in class, but i hope she learns some of her other classmates' names by the end of the school year.

We love you big girl and are so proud of you! We're looking forward to watching you as you change and grow in the next few months. I pray that you enjoy school and your love for learning new things does not diminish!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Seven Months

You are seven months old now my littlest love! This month has brought lots of changes for our household- Emma started school, mommy is watching Aiden and Gavin again and the weather has done a sudden switch from summer to fall. You are accepting the turn of events and taking it all in stride. Our days have not seemed to slow down like I anticipated, but rather continue to be go, go, go.


Gone are the days of a stationary baby in our home. When I set you down on the floor you do not stay in that spot for long. Full fledged crawling will begin any day now I'm sure. It drives your daddy crazy that you are not sitting up on your own, but mommy knows that you have no desire to sit in one place for any amount of time. You get that trait straight from your daddy so he should understand!
Sometimes mommy has to contain you!
I believe you are hovering right around the 16 pound mark weight-wise. You are long and skinny just like your daddy and papa Klein. Your cloth diapers are still on the mid-rise setting, but mommy finally broke down and we're using disposable (size 3) at night for the time being. We started to have problems with leaking and we have some 'sposies left over from our camping trips so I figure we need to use them up anyways. We'll tackle the problem when we run out.

You've switched to six months clothes since the temperatures have dropped, but I haven't put away some of your three month stuff in hopes that we may need it again for a heat wave (wishful thinking, I know). Don't get me wrong, I love the cooler weather and all, but I'm not quite ready for the coming months when we're stuck inside.

You are nursing 5-7 times a day with one serving of fruit around lunch time and one serving of veggies during dinner. You love almost everything with the exception of green beans and peas. Those you tend to gag on. We'll keep working on it! You also love Gerber puffs and have some almost every day. Self feeding is a struggle still, but you want to do it on your own so badly. At this point there's not a ton of things I'm comfortable giving you without teeth, so the puffs are perfect since they dissolve quickly. We tried a sippy cup too, but you mostly used it as a teething toy.

Some days you get three 45 minute cat naps and other days you only get one long nap. You are finally doing 9 hour stretches at night, but it took a few sleepless nights and lots of tears on both our parts to get there. Typically you go down around 7:30 and are up for the day at 7:30 with one feeding around 4:30. You've been a little out of whack again lately, but that is primarily due to a new tooth coming through.

I spotted the culprit this morning in fact. Right before we are heading out of town for Lindsey's wedding you decided it was finally time to cut a tooth. This may be a very long weekend indeed.


I forgot how much fun this stage is! You love to interact with everyone around you, bringing smiles to many. We love you so much happy boy!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Birthday Week Celebration

Growing up we didn't just do a birthDAY- we had a birthday WEEK. While the hubs doesn't quite get this mind set, I'd like to continue this for my kiddos. This doesn't mean we do something special every day. The birthday person gets to make lots of choices through out the week, from what to eat to what to do. We started out on Monday and took it right on through Sunday.

I had a parent meeting Monday night at Emma's preschool. While I was gone Grandma Jen had her hands full. Emma was a bit stressed out at the thought of school and gave grandma a run for her money. Upon my return we loaded up the van and headed for an early celebration at Chuck E Cheese.

Easton got in on the fun too

I don't think Nascar is in the future for these two...
On Thursday (her actual birthday) Emma made the majority of decisions for the day. We started off with a trip to Deanna's. This is the third year she's chosen to go there. They had a carnival going on which added to the fun.

She's a pro at Angry Birds, must be all that practice on Daddy's phone.
Easton enjoyed all the new toys to play with.
My little dancing dinosaur princess picked this ensemble out all on her own.
She choose 'Donalds for dinner, another tradition for her. We had that for lunch last year and dinner the year before. She's still not skilled in the area of fine dining, but she sure is easy to please!
Headed to dinner
Presents were a bit of a dilemma this year. We wanted to get her a trampoline, but were having a hard time finding one on Craigslsit. They were either junk or gone before I got a hold of the seller. Luckily I have a stash of random gifts for her and was able to wrap up a few to give her!

Friday we hit Neil's Dutch Village. I had a Groupon I needed to use up and I thought it would be another fun outing for the birthday girl before we headed to the doctors for her four year appointment and shots. I'm glad I didn't pay the full price for admission- Emma was really only interested in riding the carousel and the swings!
 
My little bundles of joy!
 

We finally forfeited the second hand trampoline plan, mainly because we were out of time and couldn't find one that fit the bill. On Saturday night we ended up at Wal-Mart at 10:00 at night to pick up a trampoline. I had checked several stores earlier in the day and had the one picked out that I wanted, only to find it wasn't available in the stores! It was a major fiasco, but after two hours of assembly in the dark we had one up and ready for fun by 1:30 a.m.

Sunday we had a birthday party for her. Emma would have invited everyone she knew and their neighbors if I'd let her, but we kept it to family. I told her maybe next year she can have a party with her friends over. We had 22 people as it was!

She chose an Olivia theme this year and I tried to incorporate that as much as possible without knowing anything about the show. We had a pork roast (thankfully Emma doesn't understand that aspect!), RED skin potato salad, a fruit salad with raspberries, strawberries and watermelon and roasted RED pepper dip with veggies. There was PINK lemonade and PINK punch.
 

 
Emma spent most of her time playing on her new trampoline. She had a blast, but after a long week she was exhausted by the end of it. Thanks so much to our wonderful family who helped out and made the day come together to celebrate our birthday girl!