I'm with the band

Chalk the walk

2009-05-24T18:25:00.001-07:00

Mount Vernon, a small town about 20 minutes or so from our house, has an annual chalk festival the first weekend in May. Every year I want to go and every year we don't. Except this year. Scott and Norah and I went (Kaden was with his mom.) and it was great.

Exactly what I love about living around here! Summer festivals!

The festival brings in plenty of professional artists. But the coolest part (in my opinion) is that they choose a piece of artwork each year for the community to recreate on the street, with chalk. It's huge. Like more than a thousand square feet. They mark it off in 1-foot-by-1-foot squares and for a nominal amount you can get chalk and a piece of paper depicting what should be in that portion of the larger image. This year it was "Where the Wild Things Are," one of my all-time favorite books as a child. So I was pumped to be part of the art.

Once we got there, however, we realized none of us (mostly Norah) was going to have the patience it would take to do the job right. So we borrowed a few pieces of chalk and just drew on our own.

And then Norah decided her body was a much better canvas than the street for her artwork.

Scott didn't understand why was taking a picture of Norah's pants. But seriously. What was I thinking putting her in white pants. WHITE pants for a chalk festival. Duh. Stain remover and tide with bleach later, these pants still aren't the same.

But she had a blast.

An evening with Daddy and Norah

2009-05-02T08:07:00.001-07:00

Most weeks there's at least one night that Scott or I have to work late, usually both of us. Daddy's and Norah's nights at home without Mommy are generally very well documented by Scott's sort of neurotic photo taking.

An after dinner bath. Yup. We're still in the sink. Unless Kaden is with her Norah is freaked out by the big tub. That and the fact that our hot water is a dribble means that a sink bath is just that much easier.

Lovin' the new jammies.

Maxin and RELAXIN on the princess couch doing a little teeth brushing.

Mother's Day came early

2009-05-02T07:55:00.001-07:00

I went to Des Moines last weekend for a friend's bachelorette party and I came home to a spruced up kitchen. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Before.

After.
A new chandelier and using the table as an actual table instead of a computer desk!!

Before.

After.
Check out the photo gallery!!

Before.

After.

A computer desk!!!

Garrett and Morgan's wedding

2009-05-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

My baby (and only) brother Garrett got married April 18 in Alaska. We weren't able to be there. But here are few pictures of the event. It looked lovely. Congratulations you two!!

The happy couple and Garrett's best man. For those of you who haven't seen Garret in years, or never have, he's the one on the left. Don't you love that Morgan got Mr. Macho Hockey Man to have a pink wedding!?

Love the cake!

Michael, Kelsey and Avery.

Easter 2009

2009-05-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Living two hours away might as well be five for as little as we make it back to Scott's parent's farm. Life just gets busy. But when the trips are few and far between they are extra special. We had a blast there on Easter.

Kaden and Norah in their Easter best.

A little Easter rough housing and baseball.

Norah's first tractor ride with Papa.

On the hunt.

Another one!

Chicago 2009

2009-05-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

As long as Scott and I have been together we've had an annual tradition of going to Chicago over his spring break. This year that fell over Easter weekend. Which means we got a wicked cheap hotel room and were able to stay in Chicago two nights before heading home to spend Easter with the kids at Scott's parent's house.

Funny thing about Chicago. It's windy. And I left my coat in the car, which was valet parked who knows where. My prize. A new coat.

After seeing the Broadway musical Jersey Boys. The story of Frankie Valli. Not to be confused with Ricky Valens, who died in the plane crash in Iowa. That's what I thought it was going into it. Not so. Instead it's Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons. It was AWESOME!!!

Random right? Grant Woods famous duo MUCH larger than life in the Tribune Plaza on Michigan Avenue. Even wiereder was what was right next to this grumpy pair ...

A moose. It was like Alaska and Iowa symbolized right next to one another.

To the park

2009-05-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

Scott had Good Friday off. So he and the kids took a walk to the park a couple blocks from our house. I love our neighborhood for a lot of reasons. But having two parks within walking distance is one of them. One of the things I'm looking more forward to about summer is trips to the park. And now that Norah LOVES to take walks (we go on one before we go to work/daycare each morning), I'm guessing she'll be up for it.

Eye Matey

2009-05-02T06:46:00.000-07:00

So we went back to the eye doctor a couple of weeks ago and the glasses are definitely doing their job. She can see a lot better with them. But, her laziness isn't totally corrected by the lenses. Which means it's partially a muscle thing too. And that means we have to patch Norah's good eye for two hours a day so that the weaker one will have to do more work and her brain won't decide to shut it off.

We weren't sure how she'd take to it. So the first night Scott and I patched our eyes too.

She's been great though. Only once or twice has she taken it off before the two hours is up.

Baby animals

2009-05-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Norah is recently infatuated with animals, particularly woofs (dogs) and kitties. So I knew she would love a baby animal petting zoo. We met up with a friend from work and her daughter Kate. The girls loved the animals. Kate was braver than Norah, who wouldn't touch any of the animals. Both girls tried to spring the baby chicks and ducks from their home by lifting up the chicken wire.

Aren't the two sets of pigtails too cute!

Baby chicks and ducks right before these hoodlums tried to stage a jail break.

Brother and sister

2009-05-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

People often ask me how Norah and Kaden get along. The answer. They adore each other. I don't know if it's because they don't see each other all the time or in spite of it. But, they can't get enough.

First Spring day

2009-05-02T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's finally spring here in Iowa. Back in March though Mother Nature toyed with our emotions and gave us a couple of 70 degree days. Norah wasn't sure what to make of our backyard without all that white stuff.

It took a while to get used to our bumpy lawn. Last summer we had a family (or five) of rabbits or moles or something that turned out lawn into an interstate system of tunnels.

A rock. A precious rock. The first one of the year. It's still sitting on our window sill.

Norah's glasses

2009-04-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

In February, we noticed Norah's right eye wandering toward her nose. At first Scott and I thought we were just being paranoid. But then we started noticing it in pictures. So we made an appointment with the eye doctor. The diagnosis? Accommodative esototropia. Which basically means she is farsighted and her eye was going lazy in an attempt to focus and see properly.

So. We got glasses. For the first month or so we thought we would never be able to get her to wear them for more than a few minutes at a time. We tried wearing glasses ourselves. Book about kids with glasses. Dolls with glasses. Nothing. Then one day Norah just decided they were alright. Like everything else in her 15 month life, it has been on her schedule. Not ours.

These pictures are all from her first evening wearing the glasses.

The best part. The pink purse in this picture is what the glasses came in. Problem was she liked to take them off and put them in the purse so she could carry them around.

Daddy's shoes

2009-04-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Norah has a shoe fetish. One that will likely cost lots of money in her future. For now she is satisfied with Daddy's.

These boots were made for walking

2009-04-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sharing this picture because of the boots. And because of the story of the boots. We are lucky enough to get 99.9 percent of all of Norah's clothes from cousin Avery, who is 2.5 years older than Norah. These boots, UGG knockoffs, are part of that collection. I tried, in vain, to get them on once many months ago. Her foot would go in. But her darn toes just wouldn't go into the toe. After much struggling with a wiggly 1 year old, I gave up and figured she'd just never wear these fabulous boots.

Then one day I was lamenting about the unworn and fabulous boots to a friend, who offered to give it whirl. She wrestled Norah for a while. And, then, made a disovery. Her feet wouldn't go all the way in because of the large chunk of wadded up paper in the toe. Duh. Right. That would have been the first thing I should have looked at, you're thinking. Well. It didn't occur to me to check that because I'd assumed that Avery wore them. I should have known better since some of the clothes we got still have tags on them.

duets

2009-02-21T07:11:00.000-08:00

Our little pianists

I'm gonna web you

2009-02-16T17:30:00.001-08:00

This photo should really be entitled "The coolest step mom EVER." Begone hairy warts. I met Spidey. That's all you need to be THE COOLEST PERSON EVER to a 5-year-old.

just cause

2009-02-08T19:54:00.001-08:00

No camera skills of mine made these photos so cool. But somehow the light turned out great. And I love that I took it myself at the crack of dawn because Norah has no respect for weekend sleeping in. But, when the first thing you hear in the morning is the sweetest little "hiiya" and see her little head peeking over the crib, it's easy to forget that you used to be able to sleep until noon without even trying.

little cindy lou

2009-02-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

Norah's hair is FINALLY long enough for pigtails. No one is as excited about this as I am. For some inexplicable reason I've been looking forward to this day since we found out we were having a girl. First pigtails. Then braiding hair, shopping, makeup. All those girly girl things I can't wait to share with my daughter.

The fact that the pigtails are on top of her head much like two little horns would be. Not a coincidence.

The next morning. Is anyone else surprised that these stayed in all night? Maybe we won't be going through all 600 (not kidding) in the pack as quickly as I thought.

gimmee meat

2009-02-08T19:24:00.001-08:00

Is this Norah's way of telling us that she needs more meat in her diet? Yes. That is an entire chicken breast in her hand. And yes. She did grab it off my plate and proceed to gnaw on it.

mmm. one satisfied customer.

2009 Presidential Inaugural Parade

2009-01-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

Scott marched with the Dubuque Colts Drum and Bugle Corps for five years in his teens and early 20's. In case you don't know. Drum and Bugle Corps are like marching bands on steroids. It's been 15 years since he aged out so when the Colts announced that they had been chosen to march in President Barack Obama's inaugural parade and that they were taking alumni too, he jumped at the chance to march again. Especially for such a historical occassion.

After a 30 hour bus ride, they got to D.C. Sunday evening before the inauguration. Monday was a full day of rehearsal and Tuesday was the big day. Despite nearly freezing to death, he says it was a phenomenal experience.

Scott in uniform. This is serious business people.

Practicing (they also slept in this gym on the floor)

The day of the parade. You can't tell in the picture that this parade was one of the coldest in presidential history.

Sledding

2009-01-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

So it's been really cold in Iowa. Like Alaska cold. Really. All the cold temps mom has been complaining about. They made their way down here last week. We're talking -30 degrees with some mighty cold winds to boot. So Norah hasn't been able to test out her new sled outside. We've been making do:

One of Norah's favorite pastimes lately has been sled rides around the living room and dining room. Fun for her. Workout for me.

Big girl bathtime

2009-01-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

Norah took her first official bath in the big tub last month. Yes. We have been bathing her for the last 12 months. Don't call child services on us. Of course first it was in the plastic infant tub. Then we graduated to the sink. We just had to stay there longer than we might have normally because our bath tub was experiencing some plumbing difficulties. As in, it wasn't draining. But, that's all better now. So Norah can get clean in style.

Hawkeyes win the Outback Bowl

2009-01-24T17:35:00.000-08:00

Much much much too early on New Year's Day we all headed over to Pam's (of Pam and Eric) parents' house. Their basement is Scott's idea of heaven. They not only have a large flatscreen mounted on the center wall but two smaller flatscreens flanking it on either side. Perfect for watching multiple football games. Scott's heaven. My opposite place of heaven.

So we watched the Hawks trounce South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. And by we watched. I mean everyone else watched and I chased Norah around the room trying to keep her from eating too many antique Christmas ornaments.

This is how Norah and I feel about football season. Just one more game to go an it's over ... until spring training. Sigh.

Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009

2009-01-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

We rang in the new year at Pam and Eric Schulz's annual party. We missed last year because I was pregnant and pissed off that Norah had decided not to arrive on her due date. We were sad to miss it though. Eric always orchestrates quite the beer tasting extravanganza. This year Scott helped select all the beers.

Before.

After.
The blurry guy behind the beer is Eric. He and Scott have been friends since middle school.

Happy 2009

The big ONE -- Norah's first birthday!

2009-01-24T08:07:00.001-08:00

Our big birthday girl!

Norah turned one January 9. I cannot even begin to describe how fast this first year has gone. It really truly feels like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and now here we are a year later and she's walking (or running) and talking. A year ago she was entirely dependent on Scott and I for everything and now she's little miss independent. As I type this she's sitting next to me in her high chair munching on a cracker and banana pieces. And now she's yelling at me to get out. Typical.

But I digress. Back to the party:

The scene is set. We went with a Curious George/Princess theme. I couldn't resist having pink at our little girl's first b-day party. But our little monkey loves Curious George so much that we couldn't leave him out either.

Look at that cake! I've said it before and I'll say it again, Grandma Kathy rocks! This is actually tons of cupcakes all iced together to form a Curious George. And of course there is one special cupcake for the Birthday Girl!

Opening presents. I was worried that Norah would freak out with so many people all focused on her. But I should have known that the little ham would love it.

It's almost cake time!

Dainty does it. No smashing the cake for this little lady.

Finally. Some mess. And on to cupcake number two. C'mon a girl only turns one once!

Christmas Morning 2008

2009-01-24T07:44:00.000-08:00

Norah's an early riser any day of the week so it was no surprise that we were up bright and early Christmas morning. Santa was very generous to both the kids. Mom and Dad were no slackers either.

More Power Rangers. SHOCKING!

Norah got a pony.

And a walker pusher thingy (I'm sure the creatives at Fisher Price have a much more marketable name for it but I can't remember what it's really called)

The $50 helmet that Scott almost got in a fight with the checker at Toy's R Us over and that Kaden has worn/played with exactly once. This was it. Good thing we got a picture.

And the $15 dollar Imaginext pirate ship that he absolutely LOVES
and plays with ALL THE TIME!

Lucky.

Christmas Eve 2008

2009-01-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

This was our year to have Kaden for Christmas Eve but not Christmas morning. We were bummed since it was Norah's first Christmas and it would have been nice to have the kids together to open presents first thing in the morning. Luckily Mother Nature intervened. As it often does in Iowa in the winter and the weather was so nasty that he got to stay an extra night.

We decided to start a tradition of opening presents from Grandma Cheryl on Christmas Eve.

Kaden got blocks. The real wood kind that I used to have when I was a kid. He likes building things. Norah LOVES knocking them down.

Norah got a couple of puzzles. She really enjoyed eating them. We're still working on the playing with them part.

We also started a tradition of making cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Kaden was an excellent cutter outer and sprinkle sprinkler. Santa very much enjoyed his treat. He plans on spending a lot of quality time on the treadmill this month because he loved them so much.

Freezin' with the Fins

2009-01-24T07:20:00.000-08:00

Our intrepid football fans

So back in the summer when it was 100 degrees outside we thought it'd be fun to get tickets to a Miami Dolphins game in Kansas City on December 22 with Carla and Dave. He's a Chiefs fan and anyone who's ever met Scott is well aware of his passion for the Dolphins.

I however didn't really think through the December factor when I agreed to this trip. Do you know absolutely frigid it is in an outdoor stadium in the midwest four days before Christmas? I don't either. We girls went shopping instead.

The boys know though. Their beer froze before they could drink it. Scott got punched in the stomach by a Chiefs fan after cheering for the Dolphins (who won. I don't remember the score though. Ask Scott) But they made it through the entire game. They were even nuts enough to tailgate before hand.

Proof they tailgated

Our Jeep smelled like grilled beef for days afterward. Any guesses how excited the vegetarian was about that?

Kaden turns FIVE!

2008-12-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

Kaden turned five Dec. 11. We had his party Dec. 14. He requested a Hawkeye party. Everyone wore their best Hawkeye gear and we tailgated like it wasn't frigid outside.

Kaden poses with his super fabulous Hawkeye cake. Grandma Kathy should make cakes for a living don't you think? Oh. Wait. She does. But she doesn't get paid nearly enough. How much does that cake rock?!

Drums. thaaaanks grandma and grandpa. They're the silent kind of drums, right?

Norah dancing in her birthday finest. Mommy forgot about the Hawkeye gear when she got her dressed. We could have changed. But she looked so darn cute. Hard to believe it's her first birthday in less than a month. Doesn't seem like an entire year ago that we were impatiently waiting for her arrival.

Santa's coming to town

2008-11-30T17:45:00.001-08:00

We went to the mall yesterday to see Santa and give him Kaden's wish list, which you can see he's reading very carefully to Santa. This is only the third year that Kaden's even come close to the big guy without sobbing. The first year he managed to summon up the courage to sit on his lap was only because he bargained in exchange for a baseball and bat.

This year he couldn't wait! He was giddy. Once he climbed on to Santa's lap you could tell he was so awestruck he didn't really know what to do. He'd planned on introducing Santa to Norah, because they've never met you know. But he was so nervous he just looked at his list the whole time.

And Norah. Our curious little monkey. She laughed and smiled and yanked on Santa's beard. Didn't seem wierd to her at all that mommy had just put her on some strange man's lap.

We also put up the tree last night and decorated the whole house. We woke this morning to our first snow on the ground. It certainly is starting to feel a lot like Christmas ...

Norah vs. Spaghetti

2008-11-30T17:38:00.000-08:00

Bring it!

Ooops. Missed one.

Who knew food could be this fun?

Norah had spaghetti for the first time last week. In this case a picture really is worth a thousand words. Suffice it to say that we're still picking out pieces of noodles from the carpet. But she had a ball.

She still has a couple of bottles a day, but mostly we're all about the table food now. She's also coming around to the sippy cup.

P.S. I am annoyed that I cannot get the photos to reorder correctly. Grrrr.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-30T16:05:00.001-08:00

Scott, Kaden, Norah and I all went to Grandma and Papa Weber's for Thanksgiving this year. We've hosted the last two years and it was nice and relaxing to go to bed Wednesday night without worrying about whether the house was clean and the food was all prepped. AHh! Grandma cooked a lovely spread and we all ate waaaay too much. Norah enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal. She loved the potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, turkey and apples. She only made a face at the cranberry sauce. Too tart for our sugar I guess.

Maxin' and relaxin' after a big day.

Grandma, Papa and Norah

Mmmmm. Turkey.

Daddy? There he is. The guy behind the camera.

Noran in her Thanksgiving finest. Did I mention she's FAST!

Walking!

2008-11-30T15:29:00.001-08:00

Just hanging out.

On the move!

Daddy's little dolphin.

Norah started walking a couple of weeks ago and she hasn't stopped moving since. We thought she was good at getting around before. Boy were we wrong! She's FAST! And so curious! That probably explains why her favorite character is Curious George.

The Alaskan exchange

2008-11-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

So waaaay back in August my family came to visit. To visit and to deliver Taryn to Coe College, which is conveniently located just a few blocks from our house. She babysits and we feed and drive her around. It's a nice exchange we think. It's so nice to have family here ALL of the time. Really it is.

It was hard to say goodbye to Kelsey, Avery and Grandma. But we had a great time while they were here. Such a great time we took a pitiful number of pictures. Here's a few though.

Grandma reading to all the grandbabies.

Kelsey with our baby girls.

Swimming with cousin Avery. All summer any time we coughed up the $4 it cost to get an infant into the pool, Norah HATED it. I mean HATED it. Screaming. Tears. The works. But, this little pool. The free pool in our back yard. She LOVED. Go figure.

Go Hawks!

2008-11-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

There's a nip in the air. Leaves are falling. Sure signs of ... Football season. In our household one person (one guess who that is) cares more than the rest of us. But we put on a good face.

Daddy's little hawkeye. I had to put a clip in her hair after someone asked how old our little boy was in this outfit.

Converting another Alaskan.

Hawkeye love.

The tooth fairy

2008-11-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Kaden has been busy too. He lost two teeth!

As I'm digging bloody tooth no. 2 out of my wallet because it decided to relinquish its hold at a fall festival, I ask Scott, "So, what's the going rate for the tooth fairy these days?"

"Five dollars," he says.

Hmm. I think. Doing the math. That's gonna be a lot of money. There's a lot of teeth in that mouth (20 in case you're wondering. I looked it up). That's 100 bucks. No way.

It's obvious at this point who the evil cheapskate parent is.

We settled on a dollar.

Say cheese!

On the move

2008-11-03T18:56:00.001-08:00

Norah has been a very busy girl in the four (gasp!) months that I have been ignoring this blog.

She sits.

She crawls.

She climbs.

Trick or treat -- Halloween 2008

2008-11-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

We went to Preston again this year for our annual tradition of trick or treating with the rest of the Weber clan. Of course it was the coldest day of the fall. We ended up driving around town, but Kaden got plenty of candy and Norah enjoyed the excitement from the car.

One red ranger. Check. One monkey (with a banana). Check.

What a rag tag bunch! Three rock stars and a red ranger.

Momma and her monkey.

She really is the Ghostess with the Mostest.

No your eyes do not deceive. He did indeed have two costumes. One red. One blue. Rangers can morph colors you know.

10 months and 5 years -- Almost

2008-11-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

We got pics of the kids taken Sunday. Luckily they were both incredibly patient. It's hard to believe how big they are both getting. Norah had her 9 month appointment on Halloween. She's 24 lbs and 29 inches. Still in the 95 percentile. Our big girl. She'll be 10 months this weekend and Kaden will be five in a little more than a month. How time flies!

Our kind of town

2008-07-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our second anniversary early this year. Scott and I went to Chicago for one night over the Fourth of July weekend so Norah spent her first weekend at the farm with Gradma and Papa Weber. We all had a fabulous time. Grandma got Norah to start enjoying her cereal and fruit and Scott and I got to enjoy a full night's sleep after and evening out on the town. We had dinner and listened to some jazz at Andy's Jazz Club and then went to the Howl at the Moon Piano bar. We ended the night at the Billy Goat Tavern, an old haunt for Cubs fans and Chicago Tribune reporters. Pretty perfect!

The view from our hotel room at the Hyatt (which by the way is bigger than a small town).

Scott gave up a free upgrade in a deluxe room for this view. I have to admit it was pretty nice. But a deluxe room, honey, really?

Our first weekend away from baby Norah.

Bath time

2008-07-08T19:41:00.001-07:00

Norah had so much fun taking a bath in Grandma Weber's sink that we decided to try it at home. She has a ball, splashing and eating Mommy's measuring cups.

Soul Sista

2008-07-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

Norah's getting her groove on. Think she'll play the alto sax?

Summertime with Dad

2008-07-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Scott has been home with the kids this summer.
The life of a teacher. Summers off. Life is easy. Right?
Not so much, he's discovered. Two kids are a lot of work ...

Like lots of laundry.

But, they're also a lot of fun ...

Like taking time for a game of Spiderman Memory

They've even found time for some sun bathing.

40 years and counting

2008-07-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Scott's parents Larry and Kathy celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 29. 40 years! Congratulations guys. We love you!

Here's the whole fam. We didn't really even try to get all five kids looking at the camera.

Mmmmm. Good.

2008-07-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

Norah is going through an oral phase. She likes to eat ...

Woody from "Toy Story"

Rattles

Power Rangers (especially the red ones)

Everything but food.

This was bananas.

As you can see, Norah isn't such a fan of eating solids. She likes to grab at what mommy and daddy are eating, but try to get a spoonful of anything in her mouth and she's not interested.

Bath time at the farm

2008-06-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Floods of 2008

2008-06-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

It feels like a while since I last posted and really it's only been a couple of weeks. But so much has happened in that time. In the last few weeks the Cedar River, which bisects the city, rose to historic levels (31.125 ft to be exact). As it did, it swallowed up entire neighborhoods and all of downtown. To make a long story short, this city will never be the same again. It's surreal working downtown, still no power and port-a-potties.

These pics are from Wednesday June 11. Scott and Norah walked downtown to see the river rising. Less than an hour after this picture was taken, they closed the bridges because the water was starting to come over it.

Look how high and this is just the beginning!

Norah: The Chatterbox

2008-06-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

Excuse my rudimentary video skills. This is just an experiment.

Orlando!

2008-06-08T08:17:00.000-07:00

Scott and Kaden spent the week in Orlando with Scott's marching band. After a 26 hour bus ride to Florida they started the trip at Epcot Center. Then they went to the beach, the Magic Kingdom and MGM studios, where Kaden got to meet the Red SPD Power Ranger.

Kaden in front of Epcot Center!

Mickey Mouse! Worth the two hour wait to meet him.

At the Kennedy Space Center.

Sitting

2008-06-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Mmmm. What's this?

Got it!

WOOOhhhh!

Ahhh. Much more comfortable!

As you can see Norah is practicing sitting up. It's a fine art she has yet to completely get the hang of.

Fresh Veggies

2008-06-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to experiment with a CSA (community supported agriculture). If you're unfamiliar with the term it is a system where members buy a "share" of a farm. We help pay for their operating costs and in return we get fresh veggies once a week. I split a share with the food editor here at the paper.

I was getting a little bit worried about the price of the endeavor considering that we hadn’t gotten anything yet due to the weather. But, we got our first delivery last night (bok choy, green onions, peas, rhubarb, oregano, lettuce and basil).

I made a stir fry with the onions, bok choy and peas. That first bite of garden fresh produce was enough to make it all worth while. Delish!!! The snap peas reminded me of my mom's summer gardens in AK. She had a ginormous row of peas and all summer we'd just snap a few off the vine for a snack. I can't wait to experiment more with all the interesting veggies we'll get this summer. I also planted a jalapeno plant, some dill and cilantro and a watermelon in the back yard. I'm hoping I don't kill those. Last summer I cooked my basil one too many times.

Our great Memorial Day "Staycation"

2008-06-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Instead of spending lots of money on gas we bought a tent to 'camp' in our backyard. Actually just the fellas were going to enjoy a night in the great outdoors.

The morning after

Yum-O

2008-05-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

What's this deliciousness?

Mmmm. Good.

Norah tried her first solid food yesterday. I don't know if you'd actually call it solid though. More like rice soup. Delicious? She seemed to think so. Sure a lot of it dribble down her chin. But that's normal, right? She kept grabbing at the spoon and steering it toward her mouth.

It will be pizza and burgers before we know it. Especially since she's finally broken her first tooth. Yay Norah!!

Four months!

2008-05-13T18:30:00.000-07:00

Norah was four months on Friday!

At her 4 mo. appointment she weighed in at 16.6 lbs and 26 inches.

Tummy time

2008-05-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Norah recently discovered how much fun it is to roll over! She mostly hangs out halfway between her tummy and her back. But, a couple of times now she's rolled all the way.

Our little slugger

2008-05-13T16:49:00.001-07:00

Kaden is playing T-ball this summer. His first game was last weekend (May 10). Everyone was calling him "Big Papa" when he stepped up to the plate. He hit the ball off the T on his first try every time!

It's finally spring

2008-05-07T18:07:00.001-07:00

Hmmm.

2008-05-06T20:12:00.000-07:00

So. I'm sitting. All by myself. Wierd.

Go Cubbies!

2008-05-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Norah's first Chicago Cubs tee shirt. Daddy is pumped. Norah is too. Can't you tell?

An apple a day

2008-05-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Too bad Norah can't eat apples yet.
She got her first cold this weekend. Of course I blame myself because we took her out in the wind and cold both Saturday and Sunday. But, the doctor (and my own common sense) insist there's no connection between being in the cold and getting one.
Doctor? Yes. Doctor.
We overreacted and took her yesterday. Just a silly virus. But, on the bright side we got to get her weighed and now know that she's 15 lbs 9 oz. Such a big girl.
It's back to the doctor in another week for her 4 mo. check up (already? I know!). She'll get measured and weighed again. Mom likes milestones. So that will be fun. Unfortunately there will also be more shots. Which will most definitely NOT be fun.

Sistas

2008-04-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

Aren't they gorgeous. Norah and I are so jealous that we aren't in this photo too. Sometimes living 4,000 miles away just sucks. But we are super excited that all three of these lovely ladies and grandma too (why isn't she in this pic?) will be visiting in August. Then we get to keep aunt Taryn for the next four years while she's at Coe. Maybe longer. It's all part of our master plan to get the whole family to relocate from Alaska to Iowa! Muah Ha Ha!

Three months! (That's a quarter of a year)

2008-04-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me!

Daaadyyy!

Look no tears mom!

She's a big girl now

2008-03-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

Norah's tootsies barely touch. But she can hold her head up now and play in the bouncer cousin Avery was nice enough to give her.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm. Rabbits!

We had lots of fun dying Easter eggs!

Norah's first frilly dress. Mommy loved it. Norah wasn't so sure. You can't see them, but her tights even had ruffles. What a girly girl!

Two months!

2008-03-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

Norah turned two months old on March 9. We marked the ocassion with her first shots. No one liked the experience. Not Norah. Not mom.

She's 11 pounds, 11 ounces and 23 inches. The doctor reports that those stats put her in the 90 percentile.

Here are some recent pics of our BIG girl.

Let's try this again

2008-03-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

I wrote the post below in August with every intention of keeping this blog up to date. Obviously that didn't happen.

So let's try this again.

In the eight months since my last post we added a beautiful baby girl to our family.

Norah Grace joined us on January 9 at 12:04 a.m. weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and measuring 21.25 inches.

Time has been flying by. time. She started smiling at 6 weeks and is now discovering, with wonderment, her fingers. Her toes remain a mystery.

Here are two of our favorite pictures from the last two months. There's not enough room to post them all. Daddy has been busy proving that you DO take as many pictures of your second child.

Why blog?

2007-08-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

Like everyone else, I'm going to start this out by saying that I've been thinking about blogging for some time. It's not that I think that I have any wisdom or experiences of earth-shattering proportion to share. Instead, I'm motivated more by my inability to return phone calls or keep in touch with some very important people in my life. Since we have had some pretty big exciting stuff happening in the last few months, I thought now is as good a time as any to join this crazy online world of blogging.

So, for a quick recap, in no particular order:

Scott got a new job.
I started a new beat at the newspaper.
We put our house on the market, sold it, bought our dream home.
Scott started graduate school.
We found out we're preggers.

See what I mean about big excitement?