Pirates Cove

Gus had to work an unexpected Saturday in September, so I decided we needed a fun outing. We headed over to Pirates Cove which is a little amusement part a few towns over. All of the kids (including Isaac, but he wasn't allowed on this one) are huge carousel fans. The rides were unlimited with admission, so needless to say - they rode this thing A LOT.

They had to pedal these little train cars with their hands. Nathan got going pretty fast, but I was glad they had a little pole to push Emie along :). 

Hand propelled paddle boats were also a hit!

It was a fun day with my fun kiddos, but we sure wish Daddy could have come too!

Biker boy

Labor day weekend, we took a road trip to Iowa to visit Uncle John, Tita Grace and our newest nephew Iver. John and Grace have two grandsons as well and they are close to Nathan's age. They are pretty amazing on their bikes and are already riding dirt bikes on their own. Well, of course, Nathan came home determined to take his training wheels off. We knew he was ready, but hadn't been looking forward to running behind him over and over and over. We took the advice of my cousin and took his pedals off for a day to let him practice coasting. We put the pedals on the next day and off he went!  

He is now riding a bigger bike all over the neighborhood, but this little one was a great start for him. Thank you Gatzkes for leaving your bikes with us! We love having a piece of our dear friends with us when we play outside.

First Steps!

Isaac took his first bold steps a week before he turned 11 months. We were very lucky to catch them on video! Gus just happened to be filming him playing and he decided it was the time.

It took another 2-3 weeks for him to really get the hang of this walking thing, but he is now fully enjoying his two footed freedom. 

Emie is three!

What a busy few months we've had! Emie turned three on August 8th and we had a fun flower party for her with our family and close friends.

Gus put together quite a spread and his brother Dong is our ever faithful helper with party set up. This man can clean, organize and get the job done :). We'd be lost without him!

Emie requested flower cupcakes, so that is what she had.

She decided on the purple flower, but isn't a big fan of marshmallows so those went to her big brother.

He is a big fan of marshmallows!

Emie received all things girly for her gifts this year. We gave her a doctor's kit as she loves pretend play right now. My parents gave her a Snow White dress which has been put on and taken off several times a day since her birthday. She also received quite the haul of Hello Kitty items and a fairy wand. 

It has been quite a year for our little girl! She has grown into her big sister role and is now very good at mothering (a.k.a. smothering) Isaac. She loves to "read" books to herself, any and all types of pretend play, swimming, going on the swings, digging in the sand, puzzles and painting. We have learned this year that Emie is an introvert (at least at this point). You only get to see her true personality in the comfort of her own home and around those she knows well. She is creative and hilarious at home, but is often more shy and needy in crowds and new places. She can be a picky eater and she can be an adventurous eater - you never know with this one! She loves to snuggle and has a tender heart. She just started AWANA this fall and is doing awesome with memorizing her verses. We sure love our little girl and we continue to pray for wisdom to teach her to love and serve God. 

Budding Photographer

Nathan has been asking quite often lately to snap a few shots with our digital camera. With digital - why not? Here are a few things he has found worthy of documentation.

He has also been enjoying "making movies" with our iPad. Generally, they are quite long battles between various action figures and Little People. The sort of thing only a mother could love, but I know I'll enjoy watching them when he is older.

Seattle/Portland

Isaac and I had the chance to take a trip to Seattle, WA and Salem, OR back in mid-July. We had a great time! We had a smooth flight into Seattle and had the chance to visit the Culvers for two days. They were wonderful hosts and took us to see the sights of Seattle. The Culver kids are sweet, cute, funny . . . I could go on and on! I somehow took barely any pictures, but these two were too cute not to share :). Carlie and the kids took us to a park and a lakeside beach for a picnic. It started out kinda chilly for our 105 degree conditioned selves, but turned out to be a beautiful day for the beach. Hazel and Colson amazed us with their zip line skills and Jayce with his fearless approach to water. 

Hazel certainly doted on baby Isaac the whole time we were there. He is pretty used to attention from a four year old and he ate it right up.

I totally hadn't noticed Jayce's background diaper change in this picture until I had it up on the blog - too funny!

After our time in Seattle, we drove to Salem, OR to attend the wedding of a dear friend. The kind of friend you fly across the country for! I had a wonderful time at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding and was blessed to find the sweetest babysitter to stay at the hotel with my boy. Our flight back was a little less smooth as we were delayed two hours and Isaac got pretty overtired. He slept a bit, but was pretty active when he was awake. He discovered the joy of jamming his fingers up my nose and pulling my shirt down a little too far. But he was happy throughout and we made it home safely. Praise God for a much needed break from the ordinary and a good time with good friends!

County fair

We've had quite a break in blogging. Summer has been so busy!  A few weekends ago, we enjoyed an evening at the DuPage County fair. The kids had a great time!

Emie was very excited to ride a camel. We thought she would chicken out for sure, but she did have a determined look.

She made it on! Go Emie!

Then, of course, we had to introduce them to their first funnel cake. Isaac even took a taste too!

We didn't have any money left for the kids to go on rides (fairs are expensive!), but a very nice man came out of nowhere and gave us at least $20 worth of tickets. The kids had so much fun and Emie surprised us again by enjoying a few of them.

Only Nathan was bold enough for "the dragon".

We ended with the petting zoo and taking a look at some of the prize animals.

And of course a ride on the tractor tricycles.

See ya at the fair next year!

9 months

Our little guy is not so little anymore!  Well, he is rather small of stature, but he is large of heart and cuteness! 

Isaac has had a lot of change in the last 3 months:

• He is into everything.  Crawling, pulling up, and starting to cruise are among his tricks.  Thankfully, he responds to "no touch" and "come to Mommy" already :). Hopefully that lasts at least a while longer!
• He LOVES water.  We have spent a ton of time at the public pools in our town and at Lake Michigan and he loves splashing and "swimming" on his belly. He has a pretty strong butterfly already.  When he hears the bathtub turn on, he squeals and crawls to the tub as fast as he can.  He has taken a few baths with both siblings and was giddy with delight to be a "big kid". 
• He says "mama" and "dada" equally, but is a total Mama's boy so far. Every few minutes while playing he comes over to me and wants to rest his head on me for a quick snuggle. He does get really excited to see Daddy and I never get the full belly laughs that Daddy does.
• He is down to taking two naps a day which leaves more time for fun.  He is a thumb sucker and sleeps on his belly with his bum in the air most of the time. A trait all of our kids have shared around this age.
• He just got his two bottom teeth and he is still a constant chomper.  Nothing is safe from his chomp.
• He seems determined to bring me lots of gray hair. In the last month he earned his first black eye when he did a swan dive off of his poor babysitter's lap, he cut the roof of his mouth when he found a matchbox car under the couch and decided to shove it into his mouth, and he had an allergic reaction to scrambled egg. Ugh. I'm thinking this boy will keep me on my toes. 
• He now weighs 16 lbs 8 oz and is 27.5 inches long. He is 20th percentile for height and lowest 5th for weight, but he is our biggest baby at 9 months.  Our family might just need our own chart. 
• He is a good eater for the most part. He nurses 4-5 times a day and eats purees and table foods for his three meals. His favorite right now seems to be yogurt. 
• His nicknames include "Ikey", "Ikey Spikey", "Isaac the ice cream truck" and "Ikey d boy". 

He is still a happy boy and such a joy to our family! We are so blessed. 

Cantigny

I have fond memories of climbing on the tanks at Cantigny. I knew that these big machines would be a big hit with Nathan. He was ecstatic just to see them, but to climb them too?!? Now that is a great day for a four year old boy. 

Once he found out he could climb on them he was telling the older children and adults around us "don't worry, it is perfectly safe. They are quite old and won't move".  This boy dreams of being in charge.

Emie was pretty nervous to even touch the tanks, but she eventually warmed up. By the time we went home, she even wanted to know when we could play with the "big guns" again. 

Brothers

 We pulled out the baby pools this weekend (two are needed to protect Isaac from the crazies). I couldn't resist taking some pictures of Isaac in similar positions to Kuya Nathan at this age. I see quite a bit of resemblance in these boys!

And both are HUGE fans of water!

Soccer Mom

 So I live in the suburbs, drive a minivan and now I have a kid playing soccer. 

 Nathan played a six week session of soccer this spring and he really enjoyed it. He was one of the youngest out there, but played hard, scored a few goals and LOVED when he had the chance to be goalie. 

The last day, the parents and little siblings played the team. We were surprised that Emie wasn't afraid to get in there and go for the ball. Didn't think she had a competitive side, but maybe she does!

Nathan's biggest fans!

Cubbies awards

Nathan finished out his first year of Cubbies!  He learned 30+ verses and had a great time! The last week was an awards ceremony and the kids performed a few songs for us. Nathan's teacher was absolutely wonderful and she told me she is excited to have him again next year. Emie will hopefully be able to join in the fall too. We just aren't sure she can handle staying up late for it, but we'll give it a try.

Nathan was excited to receive his certificate and his Cubbie bear pin for his vest. Please ignore the large iron mark on my son's vest. It couldn't possibly be from a harried Mom who was trying to iron on the last of the patches a few minutes before leaving for the ceremony. I am always prepared well in advance of such events and I always meticulously sew each patch on instead of ironing, so that couldn't possibly be how it happened!

What we are reading . ..

Nathan: We just finished reading The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Walmer and he is hooked!

Emie: She has been quite faithful to The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter for some time. She is often looking for Nutkin when we walk Bailey, but we have yet to find a squirrel missing his bushy tail. Let us know if you see him.

Isaac: He seems amused by Baby Giggles by Rachael Hale. You know, when he isn't chomping it!

Me: I just read Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. Very interesting stuff! I think I'll finally read The Hunger Games next. Yes I am far, far behind!

Gus: He is all NBA right now!

Easter!

We had a great time this year celebrating the risen Christ! We started out with breakfast at Egglectic Cafe with my parents and sister.

Here's hoping the Elmo bib keeps the Easter dress clean!

Isaac had his peaches and oatmeal at home, so he just rotated laps throughout the meal. Pancakes for you next year buddy!

Grandpa was pretty tired with Easter falling a week before tax day, but he stayed awake the whole meal :)

Grandma gave the kids their Easter baskets. They each became very attached to the small stuffed animals she gave them. Nathan got a rooster named Henley, Emie a duck named Puddles, and Isaac a bunny named Fields.

We took a few attempts at a family picture. I think this one captures a lot of our family personality :)

After breakfast, we headed to church. Then we came home for naps and had a group of our close friends over for dinner. We feasted and celebrated!

Some funny Easter stories to remember:

At the Good Friday service, Nathan was asking me about communion. I told him that my cracker stood for the body of Christ which is broken for us. After squinting at my cracker for a few seconds he said "so, that's like, his foot?". I looked down and low and behold, my cracker was in the perfect shape of a foot! We'll have to work on explaining communion :)

The kids were really excited to answer "He is Risen Indeed!" as often as possible. Emie decided to add a quack, quack to the end of it. "He is Risen Indeed, quack quack!". Apparently quirky is genetic.

E is for Egg

Holiday traditions are getting more and more fun as the kids get older. Nathan and Emie were really excited about making Easter eggs this year.

Emie with her favorite egg! Of course she wanted to sleep with it that night :)

Nathan's favorite egg!

Nathan wanted to make a pattern with the eggs, but Emie wasn't about to give up her favorite egg. Oh well. 5/6th of a pattern is pretty fun too.