Sept 14th, 2012
Last wedding (that we know of!) to attend this year! Lots of weddings , lots of travel for the Akerson's! This time my dear cousin Andy and his gorgeous bride Rashelle, who he has been with for over a decade, will tie the knot! We are extra excited because they have asked our little Max to be their ring bearer!
Our journey started Friday a.m. At 0630 we woke our sleeping babies, dressed them and snuggled them in the car. First stop, McDonalds of course! Then to the pets hotel for a long weekend getaway for our pups! Then we set in for the drive to the airport in rush our! We made it with enough time for one and a half bathroom breaks before the plane was boarded minus the Akerson squad! So, the guy at the counter nicely gave a shout out to Robb, i mean "Mr. Akerson, to gate A11"! Poor guy! It was a small plane so it boarded fast. I think it said 76 people or maybe even less! Oh well, we all made it! The kids started off squirrelly but evened out by he time the one flight attendant passed the refreshments!
We chose to fly to the Cincinnati airport so we could drive, I thought, into Cinci for lunch. Turned out to just be a drive by, but we saw the Ohio River, the Reds stadium and the Bengals stadium! then we were off on the rest of our adventure.
Kentucky is hilarious! It started off by seeing one of the brown state parks signs for a place called Big Bone Lick, which is near Beaverlick?! Seriously, I couldn't make this up! Then we passed a water tower which had horizontal stripes alternating red and blue. It read Florence Y'all! Loved it!
Kentucky is gorgeous rolling green countryside! It's similiar, yet very different to us "up north". I loved taking it all in! Thanks to my hubby for driving! ;-)
There is so much history here, too! We are 15 miles from Perryville battlefield. I pretty sure that just driving by you can get the feeling of the battles that took place! Not to mention the Kentucky love of thoroughbreds! So cool, I just wish we had time to take it all in! Speaking of horses, Gracie was loving the brochures in the rack of all the horse attractions! Pretty sure her favorite two brochures are coming home with us! She keeps taking them out to look at them! She would get along so well with her namesake!
The town of Harrodsburg, which is our home away from home or two nights has a monument when you enter the town limits stating the settlement date as 1774! We are staying in a seedy little hotel called Country hearth. I booked via there website and guess got a tremendous deal, I guess! The lady told Robb as he checked in that our " king suite" normally goes for $150 but I got it at $95 per night! I will say its pretty deluxe! King bed, two pull out couches, a little walk-in kitchenette, bathroom and sink/ closet space! Good enough for us and our non-sleeping kiddos! They FINALLY feel asleep by 12:00 ( 11pm our time)! Gracie was up two times and the whole gang was up by 7:30! Sorry to the fellow patrons of Country Hearth for our 2 and 3am wake up calls! Thank God SO much for the two hour nap had by most of us ( I'm using part of this time to blog! :-)) and coffee! Always thanking God for coffee!
With our early start we found some nourishment and head back up the road to find the Wild Turkey Distillery! Nothing like opening up at 9am to our rowdy crew! Never even heard of the Kentucky Distillery Trail! Again, I wish we had more time!
I'll post all the wedding stuff in a separate post but the event site at Terrapin Hills farm is amazing! Time to get the family ready for the big event!!
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Saturday, September 15, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Playhouse part two
Our playhouse is almost complete...just some detail work left inside, a table and it will be livable.
Welcome! Please come in!
The loft!
The red benches Robb built while up in Pequot for a weekend!
This has been a work of love! Many hours and lots of creative energy has gone into it! I'm hoping with our more mild temperatures we will get in and finish up those last touches and begin getting the use this house deserves!
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Welcome! Please come in!
The loft!
The red benches Robb built while up in Pequot for a weekend!
This has been a work of love! Many hours and lots of creative energy has gone into it! I'm hoping with our more mild temperatures we will get in and finish up those last touches and begin getting the use this house deserves!
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Summer (thus far) in pictures
Dancing in the rain, waiting for daddy to get home. Max: "I'm gonna go out there so my hair will grow longer"
- Max's soccer class for 5 Monday's June 18th- July
Rainy day activities, or maybe avoiding the sun...play dough
Daddy's 35th birthday!
One of Gracie's first year photos, compliments of amazing Stacey Montgomery
Nana and Little dance snuggling at auntie lisas wedding!
Max's gymnastics class, 3 weeks!
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- Max's soccer class for 5 Monday's June 18th- July
Rainy day activities, or maybe avoiding the sun...play dough
Daddy's 35th birthday!
One of Gracie's first year photos, compliments of amazing Stacey Montgomery
Nana and Little dance snuggling at auntie lisas wedding!
Max's gymnastics class, 3 weeks!
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Gracie's 13/14th months
Man does the time go fast! And I am great at thinking about what to blog and bad at getting it done! So Grace turned 14 months last week! She is making so many strides lately that I need to get it all down!
First off is the teeth! 12.5 months and no teeth, now she has 5!!! The last two came in over this past weekend! Her grin is getting quite toothy! She is now able to bite, which is helping her to eat sliced apples and sandwiches! Speaking of eating, she is actually a picky eater. What she was digging just a few days ago, she will turn her nose up at. Who is this little girl?! She also is not interested in stopping nursing. She has gone 3 days without me and not nursed and as soon as I am back at her disposable she wants to drink.
She is starting to attempt talking. Her favorite words which is probably the impetus of her saying them are mama, dada, maa (not like a sheep, as in Max),bye, hi, chee (cheese), swin (swing), and shus (shoes, duh)!! There might be more, I'll try to be better at writing them down. But this kid gets it. She brings shoes to people when she wants to out side, which is often. And she will actually bring you the set.
She is a speed walker, climbs every where, and is working on the balance to walk down steps. We are in the midst of her first "class". Both Max and Gracie are in swimming lessons at Jackson pool where I took lesson umpteen years ago! She would hardly sit still while we took Max to gymnastics and soccer. She wanted to be out there, too. And let me tell you she can dribble a soccer ball better than most 3 year olds I know! Look out!
She giggles then most for her brother, complete adoration. She likes her mama and dada and nana. Really she loves people. She is always waving and smiling at people, trying to catch an eye and make a new friend. She makes new friends every where which is a test for me. Max has been so shy, not unlike Robb and me, so to learn the outgoing ropes is new to me. All these things that kids teach you!
Her toe head locks are growing and I was able to do piggy tails a few weeks ago! She loves pretty kitty, aka Hello Kitty. Loves playing with her babies and tea set. We turned her around in the cars eat which she likes. She is pretty easy going but knows what she wants. I love her up every chance I get and tell her I love her. She is one of my little highlights!
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First off is the teeth! 12.5 months and no teeth, now she has 5!!! The last two came in over this past weekend! Her grin is getting quite toothy! She is now able to bite, which is helping her to eat sliced apples and sandwiches! Speaking of eating, she is actually a picky eater. What she was digging just a few days ago, she will turn her nose up at. Who is this little girl?! She also is not interested in stopping nursing. She has gone 3 days without me and not nursed and as soon as I am back at her disposable she wants to drink.
She is starting to attempt talking. Her favorite words which is probably the impetus of her saying them are mama, dada, maa (not like a sheep, as in Max),bye, hi, chee (cheese), swin (swing), and shus (shoes, duh)!! There might be more, I'll try to be better at writing them down. But this kid gets it. She brings shoes to people when she wants to out side, which is often. And she will actually bring you the set.
She is a speed walker, climbs every where, and is working on the balance to walk down steps. We are in the midst of her first "class". Both Max and Gracie are in swimming lessons at Jackson pool where I took lesson umpteen years ago! She would hardly sit still while we took Max to gymnastics and soccer. She wanted to be out there, too. And let me tell you she can dribble a soccer ball better than most 3 year olds I know! Look out!
She giggles then most for her brother, complete adoration. She likes her mama and dada and nana. Really she loves people. She is always waving and smiling at people, trying to catch an eye and make a new friend. She makes new friends every where which is a test for me. Max has been so shy, not unlike Robb and me, so to learn the outgoing ropes is new to me. All these things that kids teach you!
Her toe head locks are growing and I was able to do piggy tails a few weeks ago! She loves pretty kitty, aka Hello Kitty. Loves playing with her babies and tea set. We turned her around in the cars eat which she likes. She is pretty easy going but knows what she wants. I love her up every chance I get and tell her I love her. She is one of my little highlights!
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Max's golf debut
June 2nd, 2012
I saw a post about a kids golf tournament in the Brooklyn Park community activities bulletin. Max said he wanted to try it. It was a 9 hole course.
Max getting warmed up!
We noticed he is a lefty when it comes to golf. He writes right handed.
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He also has a heck of a hockey stance and swing!
I saw a post about a kids golf tournament in the Brooklyn Park community activities bulletin. Max said he wanted to try it. It was a 9 hole course.
Max getting warmed up!
We noticed he is a lefty when it comes to golf. He writes right handed.
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He also has a heck of a hockey stance and swing!
Playhouse, phase one
So a few weeks ago Robb got a wild hair and decided he wanted to build the kids a playhouse. I love the idea but haven't been keen on the idea, for several reason, but I digress. So after relentless conversations I gave in last weekend and this is what we have at the completion of phase one!
-team sweatbands hard at work!
Thank you daddy!
Time to take it outside!
Here are the tools Max brought up from his tool bench to help dad!
We will keep you up to date on phase two!
-team sweatbands hard at work!
Thank you daddy!
Time to take it outside!
Here are the tools Max brought up from his tool bench to help dad!
We will keep you up to date on phase two!
Gracie's first year stats
One week ago Gracie had her first year medical appointment. She has grown 13 inches to a length of 32-32.5"! Reason for the range.. I got 32" then MD's office got 32.5". Wow!! And she exactly tripled her birth weight! So that was 23lbs 13oz! Not to shabby for my baby!
She got two shots and took them like a pro.. A few tears but recovered quickly! I am so proud! And then just on Sunday June 10th I noticed a jagged edge in her mouth! She has a tooth!!! I just caught my first glimpse of it today. It's her bottom left front tooth! Her bottom right is swollen so I am thinking its not too far behind and I can see the front top teeth coming down but not close to coming in yet. So it's been an eventful two weeks past one!
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She got two shots and took them like a pro.. A few tears but recovered quickly! I am so proud! And then just on Sunday June 10th I noticed a jagged edge in her mouth! She has a tooth!!! I just caught my first glimpse of it today. It's her bottom left front tooth! Her bottom right is swollen so I am thinking its not too far behind and I can see the front top teeth coming down but not close to coming in yet. So it's been an eventful two weeks past one!
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Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday night madness
Some how some way we have fallen into the routine of watching channel four news on Sunday nights, then Rosen's sports Sunday and then Criminal minds follows. For the last year and a half, or so, we have done this. The first two I like, the last is like watching a nightmare that you get sucked into and can not look away. The show is creepy, but interesting. It's terrible to watch before bed. Especially on a Sunday, right? But, we do it. Why????
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
What a difference a year makes!
5-27-12
Grace at one!!
Gracie starts the days (usually) at about 7:30 or 8am. Her new habit is when she sees me coming in to get her she stops "calling" for me and grabs her blanket and baby ( this i love, that she is attached to the blankie and baby) Then she gets to nurse. One of two feeding she still gets. Weaning her has been pretty easy, but she is definitely still more into than her brother was. Then we head to the kitchen for a little breakie. Grace loves bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, pancakes, Cheerios, applesauce.. You name it she likes it! I love that she is a good eater! One less thing to worry about! ;-)
Then we play or run errand or go for a walk. This past week we started getting serious about how I put her down for naps and bedtime. I have been guilty of nursing her to sleep so we needed to change our ways. Grace has handled it like a champ. Hardly any extra fussing. Her morning naps are at about 10:30-11 and for an hour or less, but she is taking them! Then some playing and lunch. The afternoon can be tricky because of my work schedule. During the week I work and 3pm and usually drop the kids off at Sharon's ( who we are so blessed to have) at about 2:15 so if she hasn't fallen asleep she does driving the 2 mile drive over and then might or might not fall back asleep inside. At home, she usually does another hour. Sometimes if the morning doesn't allow us a am nap she will take an hour and a half to two hour nap about 1pm. We are working on it! But I'll take what I can get and any sleep is good for her and for me!
Then we play until daddy gets home, have dinner, walk the pups, and get what ever else we can get up to before bed! We try to have both kids down by 8-8:30. We have gotten pretty good at bedtime with a bottle or pumped milk some stories, winding down in the crib while being supervised, then watching her "tv" ( the music and motion machine) and maybe a minute of fussing. She is such a good kid! We have been so blessed with two healthy great kids!
She cracks me up. She shakes her head "yes" and "no"! She is even appropriate with it! Like when she sees her baby dolls! She shakes "yes" and gives a BIG grin! Grace loves to use a wipe to clean her face and has started to share...occasionally.
Today started with Grace waking up at 5:30 because of a yucky dirty diaper. She has a bad rash right now, which we aren't sure if it's from something she ate or teething? She still is toothless!! Mommy and daddy both got up and gave her a bath and took her down for some breakfast.
Then I took the kids to church and Robb got to nap. ( max was up in the middle of the night sick and then grace up at 5:30 left little sleep for us) when we came home we helped clean up the house and then moved outside where we weeded the garden and Robb got caught up cutting down tree branches. So that led to a little nap and the a trip to the dump and trip to target where we had a picnic lunch and then to home depot to get supplies to lay down new fabric in the play area outside. Right now we have lots of holes! Then uncle Jason came over and we hung up a swing to the big trees out back and swung. We all ate Broadway for dinner and then had cake and ice cream!
Robb and I stayed up late last night finishing up the rainbow cake and let's say it was a work in progress. We learned lots! lol!! Then it was time for a bath, can you see why?
Tonight, as we listened to it storm, we read books then I let her play for a few minutes. She has a corner in her room where we we have some blankets her Dolly's and dolly accessories. She brought her baby to the bed and put a blanket over her and I said "give baby a kiss" she bent down smothered baby's face and said "muah ". I love that she is starting to "get it"! Such a big girl!
We have been blessed with people sending cards and outfits for our little ones birthday! Thank you to each of you! We adore the gesture! And we know she is fun to spoil!
Robb has been fixated on wanting to build a playhouse this summer. Its all he can talk about and google the last two weeks. I'll show you as it happens!
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Grace at one!!
Gracie starts the days (usually) at about 7:30 or 8am. Her new habit is when she sees me coming in to get her she stops "calling" for me and grabs her blanket and baby ( this i love, that she is attached to the blankie and baby) Then she gets to nurse. One of two feeding she still gets. Weaning her has been pretty easy, but she is definitely still more into than her brother was. Then we head to the kitchen for a little breakie. Grace loves bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, pancakes, Cheerios, applesauce.. You name it she likes it! I love that she is a good eater! One less thing to worry about! ;-)
Then we play or run errand or go for a walk. This past week we started getting serious about how I put her down for naps and bedtime. I have been guilty of nursing her to sleep so we needed to change our ways. Grace has handled it like a champ. Hardly any extra fussing. Her morning naps are at about 10:30-11 and for an hour or less, but she is taking them! Then some playing and lunch. The afternoon can be tricky because of my work schedule. During the week I work and 3pm and usually drop the kids off at Sharon's ( who we are so blessed to have) at about 2:15 so if she hasn't fallen asleep she does driving the 2 mile drive over and then might or might not fall back asleep inside. At home, she usually does another hour. Sometimes if the morning doesn't allow us a am nap she will take an hour and a half to two hour nap about 1pm. We are working on it! But I'll take what I can get and any sleep is good for her and for me!
Then we play until daddy gets home, have dinner, walk the pups, and get what ever else we can get up to before bed! We try to have both kids down by 8-8:30. We have gotten pretty good at bedtime with a bottle or pumped milk some stories, winding down in the crib while being supervised, then watching her "tv" ( the music and motion machine) and maybe a minute of fussing. She is such a good kid! We have been so blessed with two healthy great kids!
She cracks me up. She shakes her head "yes" and "no"! She is even appropriate with it! Like when she sees her baby dolls! She shakes "yes" and gives a BIG grin! Grace loves to use a wipe to clean her face and has started to share...occasionally.
Today started with Grace waking up at 5:30 because of a yucky dirty diaper. She has a bad rash right now, which we aren't sure if it's from something she ate or teething? She still is toothless!! Mommy and daddy both got up and gave her a bath and took her down for some breakfast.
Then I took the kids to church and Robb got to nap. ( max was up in the middle of the night sick and then grace up at 5:30 left little sleep for us) when we came home we helped clean up the house and then moved outside where we weeded the garden and Robb got caught up cutting down tree branches. So that led to a little nap and the a trip to the dump and trip to target where we had a picnic lunch and then to home depot to get supplies to lay down new fabric in the play area outside. Right now we have lots of holes! Then uncle Jason came over and we hung up a swing to the big trees out back and swung. We all ate Broadway for dinner and then had cake and ice cream!
Robb and I stayed up late last night finishing up the rainbow cake and let's say it was a work in progress. We learned lots! lol!! Then it was time for a bath, can you see why?
Tonight, as we listened to it storm, we read books then I let her play for a few minutes. She has a corner in her room where we we have some blankets her Dolly's and dolly accessories. She brought her baby to the bed and put a blanket over her and I said "give baby a kiss" she bent down smothered baby's face and said "muah ". I love that she is starting to "get it"! Such a big girl!
We have been blessed with people sending cards and outfits for our little ones birthday! Thank you to each of you! We adore the gesture! And we know she is fun to spoil!
Robb has been fixated on wanting to build a playhouse this summer. Its all he can talk about and google the last two weeks. I'll show you as it happens!
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Max is 3.5 kid years
5-23-12
So, my Maxers, our Maxers is 3.5 years old today! It's exciting and scary how fast time flies. It just happened that I could schedule his kindergarten screening for today, as well. It was neat to watch him get screen, frustrating, too! Frustrating like when they asked him his favorite book he said he could remember but he can recite " chicka chicka boom boom" by memory. But over all the proud feeling rose up in me today. The proud momma! He is such a big boy, so sweet.
To update on Max, let's see. The past few days he has been into cleaning. He takes a sponge and cleans everything in his sight. I taught him to dry the wood and other things that shouldn't stay wet. He has been washing walls, stool seats, counter tops, trash cans... You name it he has cleaned. It's enduring to me since I adore a clean home. He is my son after all, I wasn't JUST an oven!
He still loves to read, play Legos and play with cars. He can recite his ABC's and count to 12, give or take a 5 or 10. I credit this to his increased interest in numbers and letters but also the aforementioned "chicka chicka boom boom" has been huge. Also, when we were in Mexico I happened to find a video on youtube, since we didn't bring he book, that totally sticks in our head! It's made the difference in him learning the alphabet in order.
Max still loves his bike and rides at least once a day. Usually when we walk the dogs, although he does have a "track" lined out with chalk in the garage. He really wants to do a gymnastics class to learn summersaults better. So I hope to find a class for him over the summer. I want to get him into some swimming classes and maybe a soccer/ t-ball class, as well as VBS. it might be a busy summer with just one kid doing activities!
He eats most things but has started to prefer treats and sweets. He sleeps usually 11-12 hours a night. Usually 8:30-8:30 although it varies. He hasn't napped regularly now for about a year. He is 41 and 7/8" and about 40#. Since February he has grown about two inches and cruised through size 3's to 4's! His memory is strong, calling me on things and recalling things from weeks ago! I think he is brilliant and smart and cute! His curls are coming back with his sweating and summer humidity! Hooray! Here are some current pictures!
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So, my Maxers, our Maxers is 3.5 years old today! It's exciting and scary how fast time flies. It just happened that I could schedule his kindergarten screening for today, as well. It was neat to watch him get screen, frustrating, too! Frustrating like when they asked him his favorite book he said he could remember but he can recite " chicka chicka boom boom" by memory. But over all the proud feeling rose up in me today. The proud momma! He is such a big boy, so sweet.
To update on Max, let's see. The past few days he has been into cleaning. He takes a sponge and cleans everything in his sight. I taught him to dry the wood and other things that shouldn't stay wet. He has been washing walls, stool seats, counter tops, trash cans... You name it he has cleaned. It's enduring to me since I adore a clean home. He is my son after all, I wasn't JUST an oven!
He still loves to read, play Legos and play with cars. He can recite his ABC's and count to 12, give or take a 5 or 10. I credit this to his increased interest in numbers and letters but also the aforementioned "chicka chicka boom boom" has been huge. Also, when we were in Mexico I happened to find a video on youtube, since we didn't bring he book, that totally sticks in our head! It's made the difference in him learning the alphabet in order.
Max still loves his bike and rides at least once a day. Usually when we walk the dogs, although he does have a "track" lined out with chalk in the garage. He really wants to do a gymnastics class to learn summersaults better. So I hope to find a class for him over the summer. I want to get him into some swimming classes and maybe a soccer/ t-ball class, as well as VBS. it might be a busy summer with just one kid doing activities!
He eats most things but has started to prefer treats and sweets. He sleeps usually 11-12 hours a night. Usually 8:30-8:30 although it varies. He hasn't napped regularly now for about a year. He is 41 and 7/8" and about 40#. Since February he has grown about two inches and cruised through size 3's to 4's! His memory is strong, calling me on things and recalling things from weeks ago! I think he is brilliant and smart and cute! His curls are coming back with his sweating and summer humidity! Hooray! Here are some current pictures!
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Gracie 11 months
Gracie is 11 months... the count down is on to ONE!! I know I am not going to remember all of the fun things she does at but I am gonna try. My little monkey is a fast walker. She is into everything. She picks it up moves it to another room, see something in there drops what she has and picks of what she had spied and takes that to the next place. She is intrigued by cupboards and drawers and everything in them. She has mastered the stairs going up and down, although I still like to follow her just to keep her safe. I do have to say Big Brother Max has done a great job watching her and keeping her safe. He likes to follow her up and down the stairs. We talk a lot about how big brothers need to protect the little sisters! Did I tell you about the time she crawled up the bunk bed latter after her brother? did I mention that I was in the shower at the time? Just about gave me a heart attack! Seriously. That was about a month ago.
One big thing I have been wondering is when will she start "acting like a girl"? that question was answered probably by the end of the 10th month and this month so far. She has always loved babies, but now has taken to her baby dolls. She carries them around with her EVERYWHERE! She loves them at school and will play with them most of the time. She loves trying to put on sunglasses and headbands. She is drawn to sparkily pretties. I love it. I love my girl. Of course, I love my boy as well. I am so blessed to experieince raising both.
Speaking of school, I have realized that is where she is picking so much of this up and applying it at home. When she went down the slide all by herself I looked at her and thought, " where did she learn that?" turns out she has been doing it at school in the gym during the parent education time. Whoa! I have just discovered that she can "color" with side walk chalk, too, not just try to eat it! And she paints and colors. What a big girl. Her world has just grown so much!
Gracie still does not lay claim to a tooth. This has not hampered her eating, it just makes me nervous. Who doesn't have a tooth by 1? My girl! She does how ever make funny grins, and noises with her gums that kids with teeth might not be able to!
One big thing I have been wondering is when will she start "acting like a girl"? that question was answered probably by the end of the 10th month and this month so far. She has always loved babies, but now has taken to her baby dolls. She carries them around with her EVERYWHERE! She loves them at school and will play with them most of the time. She loves trying to put on sunglasses and headbands. She is drawn to sparkily pretties. I love it. I love my girl. Of course, I love my boy as well. I am so blessed to experieince raising both.
Speaking of school, I have realized that is where she is picking so much of this up and applying it at home. When she went down the slide all by herself I looked at her and thought, " where did she learn that?" turns out she has been doing it at school in the gym during the parent education time. Whoa! I have just discovered that she can "color" with side walk chalk, too, not just try to eat it! And she paints and colors. What a big girl. Her world has just grown so much!
Gracie still does not lay claim to a tooth. This has not hampered her eating, it just makes me nervous. Who doesn't have a tooth by 1? My girl! She does how ever make funny grins, and noises with her gums that kids with teeth might not be able to!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Catalonia Riviera Maya
April 20/21st, 2012
We woke up "in the middle of the night" to catch a 7 o' clocker to Cancun via Charlotte. Again, my kids are fantastic travelers! Handled both plane rides like pro's! My trick... Lots of fruit snacks! I try to buy the all-fruit ones so it's not too bad for them! We got into Cancun about 1:30 and took a transfer out to the Catalonia Riviera Maya. After check in we loaded up on sunscreen and we went to find food! We made it to the snack bar just in time to scoop up a few little things to hold us over to dinner. Then we found a few mommy daddy drinks and moved our party to the pool! Can you hear the kids finally breathe a sigh of relief? It was hard to be patient all day! After a nice dip went walked around a bit to get acquainted with the place and found one of the buffets for dinner. I think we were all asleep by 8 pm!
And an 8pm bedtime means we woke with the sun! It's 11 now and we have eaten, swam, and Gracie has even had her a.m. Nap! Time to move !
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We woke up "in the middle of the night" to catch a 7 o' clocker to Cancun via Charlotte. Again, my kids are fantastic travelers! Handled both plane rides like pro's! My trick... Lots of fruit snacks! I try to buy the all-fruit ones so it's not too bad for them! We got into Cancun about 1:30 and took a transfer out to the Catalonia Riviera Maya. After check in we loaded up on sunscreen and we went to find food! We made it to the snack bar just in time to scoop up a few little things to hold us over to dinner. Then we found a few mommy daddy drinks and moved our party to the pool! Can you hear the kids finally breathe a sigh of relief? It was hard to be patient all day! After a nice dip went walked around a bit to get acquainted with the place and found one of the buffets for dinner. I think we were all asleep by 8 pm!
And an 8pm bedtime means we woke with the sun! It's 11 now and we have eaten, swam, and Gracie has even had her a.m. Nap! Time to move !
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
BOB, I'm smitten. <3
Since February I have been picking up extra shifts, working doubles, I even came in at 11pm and worked a night shift! Haven't done that literally for years. Probably 6.5 years! Funny, I love the shift, love the people but the staying up all night and trying to be coherent for the week following is the adverse aspect. Anyway, all this leads up to the fact that BOB now occupies my husbands garage stall.
Since we brought BOB home we have enjoyed the beautiful weather with many walks. We have even found a way to stow Max's bike handle bar to handle bar for when he needs a ride. Robb keeps teasing me that I am just trying to push for a third child, you know so that this luxury stroller gets ample use. So what? Would that be so wrong? But that probably leads to another post altogether! In my defense, I have been stalking Craigslist for a year. Every time I email someone, it's been taken. Really, i think there are more WANTED posts for BOB's than people selling them. We used our REI rebate, a 20% coupon and two gift cards and I'd think we got an amazing deal!
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Since we brought BOB home we have enjoyed the beautiful weather with many walks. We have even found a way to stow Max's bike handle bar to handle bar for when he needs a ride. Robb keeps teasing me that I am just trying to push for a third child, you know so that this luxury stroller gets ample use. So what? Would that be so wrong? But that probably leads to another post altogether! In my defense, I have been stalking Craigslist for a year. Every time I email someone, it's been taken. Really, i think there are more WANTED posts for BOB's than people selling them. We used our REI rebate, a 20% coupon and two gift cards and I'd think we got an amazing deal!
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9/10 months-Gracie baby
Gracie at 10 months! Geez she is already to double digits! In the words of my husband " she is a little people". It's amazing how these little beings turn into people under watched eye. You can tell she understands and wants to communicate. She can blow kisses, walk across the room, crawl up stairs. She kicks her little feet when she gets picked up. She babbles mama and dada especially when she wants us to do something. Totally amazing! She continues to be toothless yet eats everything we feed her. Her hair is coming in in droves. She is tough and can handle when her brother is a brute three year old. She loves her brother. He has taken to "helping" get out doors and other places that his "tow truck" services can go that hers are not sufficient.
She is a social butterfly. She is waving from the second she is pulled out from the car seat until the time she shuts her eyes. Constantly looking to make eye contact with people. Her smile is brilliant and fills a room. ( which is a stark contrast to her recently shy brother who hides behind his mama legs when spoken to by strangers.)
Max is my sweet boy. He is trying to figure things out about this big world you can tell. He hears something and try's to use it in context. He is starting to get possessive of his room and toys. The weekend of march 31st he decided he wanted to ride his bike and has not stopped since. It's his passion. His little legs are getting so strong his is now able to peddle ALL the way UP our driveway! He is learning to navigate the ends of side walk bumps and incline/declines. He has been out playing with our neighbor boys lately, too. One day over the weekend they were all out playing and Abby (the mom) asked if her boys were hungry and Max chimed in "yes" so in he went for a full coursed meal! So funny! None of us have been in their home so this was hilarious to me that he just agreed to lunch and went in like he lived there and was one of the boys. Yet, he is shy. He always has been when it comes to people he doesn't know. We know where he gets this from, considering Robb and I aren't all that socially adept. Gracie's outgoing-ness is the mystery! I like Max's shyness. I don't think he needs to talk to people he doesn't know. It's healthy. I can talk to those people, he doesn't need to. And I have a standard line that I use so people don't think I am purposely raising a rude child.
I love spending all this time outside. The weather has been phenomenal. Plus, I went a little crazy and bought something new. His name is BOB. We have been thoroughly enjoying these glorious days with long walks with many stops at parks. I am smitten! It was worth the extra shifts, I tell ya!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
She is a social butterfly. She is waving from the second she is pulled out from the car seat until the time she shuts her eyes. Constantly looking to make eye contact with people. Her smile is brilliant and fills a room. ( which is a stark contrast to her recently shy brother who hides behind his mama legs when spoken to by strangers.)
Max is my sweet boy. He is trying to figure things out about this big world you can tell. He hears something and try's to use it in context. He is starting to get possessive of his room and toys. The weekend of march 31st he decided he wanted to ride his bike and has not stopped since. It's his passion. His little legs are getting so strong his is now able to peddle ALL the way UP our driveway! He is learning to navigate the ends of side walk bumps and incline/declines. He has been out playing with our neighbor boys lately, too. One day over the weekend they were all out playing and Abby (the mom) asked if her boys were hungry and Max chimed in "yes" so in he went for a full coursed meal! So funny! None of us have been in their home so this was hilarious to me that he just agreed to lunch and went in like he lived there and was one of the boys. Yet, he is shy. He always has been when it comes to people he doesn't know. We know where he gets this from, considering Robb and I aren't all that socially adept. Gracie's outgoing-ness is the mystery! I like Max's shyness. I don't think he needs to talk to people he doesn't know. It's healthy. I can talk to those people, he doesn't need to. And I have a standard line that I use so people don't think I am purposely raising a rude child.
I love spending all this time outside. The weather has been phenomenal. Plus, I went a little crazy and bought something new. His name is BOB. We have been thoroughly enjoying these glorious days with long walks with many stops at parks. I am smitten! It was worth the extra shifts, I tell ya!
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
8 months
January 27th, 2012
Gracie is 8 months today. She crawls but army crawls when she wants to be fast. She starting pulling herself up on things this week. She eats regular food in baby sized pieces. She has no teeth but more hair than Max had at a this point. She started sleeping through the night again about 2-3 weeks ago, which is heaven! She is a mommas girl but loves her daddy. Her brother is her best friend. She loves watching him, I can only imagine how much she is learning from him. She can wave "hi" and "bye". And I think she gets signing all done but hasn't figured out how to twist her wrists yet so it looks like a double wave. She mumbles mama-mama and is pretty good with saying ba. Even though I have seen this once before it amazes me how these tiny being put all this together so quickly.
Max is 3 years and 2months. He says the funniest things. His imagination is endless. He recently, although I still confused to how he found, is enamored red with monster truck and want to go to a "show". "grave digger, grave digger, grave digger" it's all I've heard today! You have got to love goggle and you tube! He other passion has been zamboni's since the wild game we went to thanksgiving weekend. He has made up his own song and knows the complete first verse of Martin Zellars Zamboni song. " I went down to the mocha marina ( local arena) and asked to see the manager man. He came from his office said on can I help you. I looked at him and said yes, you can. I want to drive the zamboni, I want to drive the zam-Bon-i...." If you can't tell it's a hit!
He just finished his fourth ECFE semester and we are enrolled for a mixed ge class to include Gracie starting next Tuesday! Max knows most of his letters and numbers 1-10. He can say the numbers and show you on his had or with toys. I say toys I mean cars or dogs! Something's don't change!
Robb set up a little " grocery store" and he has had lots of fun shopping, ringing out, bagging up and driving his bag home in his cozy coupe. I hope to video tape it. He is such a grown up. He told me yesterday that to make Gracie's oatmeal " you just pour it in a bowl, put milk in it and stir it up and give it to her" then I asked what else he knew how to make. He said toast. " you go to the store, buy bread, come home and eat it!" genius, really!
One of our favorite quotes Robb told me about was getting Max dressed and Robb asked him if he wanted to wear the Hamm's shirt, that Robb made. He looked at Robb incredulously and said " no dad, that's a Hamm's shirt, it's for sleeping'". So funny, I use all my Hamm's shits as sleep shirts!
He is so good with logo cognition. He knows Jimmy John's, Potbelly, target... Okay so maybe we go these places a bit.
He still love to run and we are back to playing 'cops and robbers' in the basement, which is really running round and sometimes chasing each other.
Seriously, my kids are growing up. I love my time with them. Probably because I get go to work. I get away and come home to appreciate how good I have it. A great husband, who is not perfect, yet perfect for me. Healthy, happy, beautiful babies. I gush, but I want to remember all this and at the rate we are going who has time to commit it to memory. We just keep going!
Happy 8 months, little! We celebrated by getting new big girl car seats! She has been at the limit of the" bucket" now for a few weeks! It was time!
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Gracie is 8 months today. She crawls but army crawls when she wants to be fast. She starting pulling herself up on things this week. She eats regular food in baby sized pieces. She has no teeth but more hair than Max had at a this point. She started sleeping through the night again about 2-3 weeks ago, which is heaven! She is a mommas girl but loves her daddy. Her brother is her best friend. She loves watching him, I can only imagine how much she is learning from him. She can wave "hi" and "bye". And I think she gets signing all done but hasn't figured out how to twist her wrists yet so it looks like a double wave. She mumbles mama-mama and is pretty good with saying ba. Even though I have seen this once before it amazes me how these tiny being put all this together so quickly.
Max is 3 years and 2months. He says the funniest things. His imagination is endless. He recently, although I still confused to how he found, is enamored red with monster truck and want to go to a "show". "grave digger, grave digger, grave digger" it's all I've heard today! You have got to love goggle and you tube! He other passion has been zamboni's since the wild game we went to thanksgiving weekend. He has made up his own song and knows the complete first verse of Martin Zellars Zamboni song. " I went down to the mocha marina ( local arena) and asked to see the manager man. He came from his office said on can I help you. I looked at him and said yes, you can. I want to drive the zamboni, I want to drive the zam-Bon-i...." If you can't tell it's a hit!
He just finished his fourth ECFE semester and we are enrolled for a mixed ge class to include Gracie starting next Tuesday! Max knows most of his letters and numbers 1-10. He can say the numbers and show you on his had or with toys. I say toys I mean cars or dogs! Something's don't change!
Robb set up a little " grocery store" and he has had lots of fun shopping, ringing out, bagging up and driving his bag home in his cozy coupe. I hope to video tape it. He is such a grown up. He told me yesterday that to make Gracie's oatmeal " you just pour it in a bowl, put milk in it and stir it up and give it to her" then I asked what else he knew how to make. He said toast. " you go to the store, buy bread, come home and eat it!" genius, really!
One of our favorite quotes Robb told me about was getting Max dressed and Robb asked him if he wanted to wear the Hamm's shirt, that Robb made. He looked at Robb incredulously and said " no dad, that's a Hamm's shirt, it's for sleeping'". So funny, I use all my Hamm's shits as sleep shirts!
He is so good with logo cognition. He knows Jimmy John's, Potbelly, target... Okay so maybe we go these places a bit.
He still love to run and we are back to playing 'cops and robbers' in the basement, which is really running round and sometimes chasing each other.
Seriously, my kids are growing up. I love my time with them. Probably because I get go to work. I get away and come home to appreciate how good I have it. A great husband, who is not perfect, yet perfect for me. Healthy, happy, beautiful babies. I gush, but I want to remember all this and at the rate we are going who has time to commit it to memory. We just keep going!
Happy 8 months, little! We celebrated by getting new big girl car seats! She has been at the limit of the" bucket" now for a few weeks! It was time!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, January 27, 2012
Early Dalbec-Akerson Christmas
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Friday started out a little rough for us. Grace had been to the Md on Monday for her first ear infection and a cough that started to have a wheeze to it. Actually, I brought her in for the wheeze and the Md caught the ear infection when looking in her ears. Poor baby! We have been doing news for the wheeze and let me tell you what a joy doing news with a 6 month old is! You would think its the worst torture you could possible do.
So naturally Max needed to go to the Md for an ear infection. Man those ear infections hurt. He woke up not feeling so well, but I was hoping it was just a cold. After his 30 minute nap, and he doesn't nap anymore, he woke up screaming. Once I got him calmed downi enough to understand what he was saying he said his ear hurt. We stopped at urgent care but the waiting room was plump full of people so I called Metro Peds and they could get us in in 20 minutes. It was a risky choice with it being close to rush hour but they are so good there and we were In and out with medicine in about 20-25 minutes. Of course, max found a new puppy named Frank ( a wiener dog) in the pharmacy store that he got his biohazard hands all over before I could say no. But, the whole trip was quick and Grace slept through it all and we were on our way home again.
On the way home Max finally got in a nap, the cars were moving pretty well for 4:30 and I got to coordinate the evening with Robb. Very productive!
Each year my mom, step dad, sister and brother celebrate Christmas early. With me working every other year, my dads side celebrating in Hayward every other year and Robb's family celebrating in up north we just have too much on the actual Christmas days. I, personally, really like it. It makes the season last soooo much longer and we get to actually spend time there without worrying about making it to the next place.
Our tradition has been to celebrate one of the first weekends in December, which ever one I don't work. Friday, we gather at the Dalbec Residence for dinner, usually crab legs and steak with other yummy fixings. Then we play games ( Santa Bingo and the dice game), look at Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood, listen to festive music and open presents. Then we play with the presents.
It is so nice to hang out as a family. This year, as like most, we were terrifically spoiled. The kids made a haul. Really it's overwhelming. Especially for Max, who just got royally spoiled for his birthday. We are so blessed. This year, because of my flub, Robb got his present early. My mom and I went in together to buy Robb an amateur screen printing lab. He loves it and has been using it since our anniversary since I bought it on a Labor day sale and had it sent to our house with my moms name on it! Oops! :-( It would have been a great surprise. But the truly great surprise was for me. Robb, mr. Sneaky-sneaky, planned a trip to Chicago for me and my mom. I am so excited to get away and Chicago will be so fun. It will be fun to go with my mom, too. My other best friend!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday started out a little rough for us. Grace had been to the Md on Monday for her first ear infection and a cough that started to have a wheeze to it. Actually, I brought her in for the wheeze and the Md caught the ear infection when looking in her ears. Poor baby! We have been doing news for the wheeze and let me tell you what a joy doing news with a 6 month old is! You would think its the worst torture you could possible do.
So naturally Max needed to go to the Md for an ear infection. Man those ear infections hurt. He woke up not feeling so well, but I was hoping it was just a cold. After his 30 minute nap, and he doesn't nap anymore, he woke up screaming. Once I got him calmed downi enough to understand what he was saying he said his ear hurt. We stopped at urgent care but the waiting room was plump full of people so I called Metro Peds and they could get us in in 20 minutes. It was a risky choice with it being close to rush hour but they are so good there and we were In and out with medicine in about 20-25 minutes. Of course, max found a new puppy named Frank ( a wiener dog) in the pharmacy store that he got his biohazard hands all over before I could say no. But, the whole trip was quick and Grace slept through it all and we were on our way home again.
On the way home Max finally got in a nap, the cars were moving pretty well for 4:30 and I got to coordinate the evening with Robb. Very productive!
Each year my mom, step dad, sister and brother celebrate Christmas early. With me working every other year, my dads side celebrating in Hayward every other year and Robb's family celebrating in up north we just have too much on the actual Christmas days. I, personally, really like it. It makes the season last soooo much longer and we get to actually spend time there without worrying about making it to the next place.
Our tradition has been to celebrate one of the first weekends in December, which ever one I don't work. Friday, we gather at the Dalbec Residence for dinner, usually crab legs and steak with other yummy fixings. Then we play games ( Santa Bingo and the dice game), look at Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood, listen to festive music and open presents. Then we play with the presents.
It is so nice to hang out as a family. This year, as like most, we were terrifically spoiled. The kids made a haul. Really it's overwhelming. Especially for Max, who just got royally spoiled for his birthday. We are so blessed. This year, because of my flub, Robb got his present early. My mom and I went in together to buy Robb an amateur screen printing lab. He loves it and has been using it since our anniversary since I bought it on a Labor day sale and had it sent to our house with my moms name on it! Oops! :-( It would have been a great surprise. But the truly great surprise was for me. Robb, mr. Sneaky-sneaky, planned a trip to Chicago for me and my mom. I am so excited to get away and Chicago will be so fun. It will be fun to go with my mom, too. My other best friend!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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