8 months/Grandma's visit

Sorry for the delay in updates, we've been very busy.  We'll start with last weekend.  We got to stay home and spend some time together.  Ava spent Saturday morning running errands with Daddy after they made their usual Saturday morning pancake breakfast.  Ava got to pick out some stuff at Menards, and they spent quite a bit of time at the library.  That evening we got to enjoy a little walk together while Ava rode her bike around our neighborhood.  Don't be confused, she doesn't actually ride a bike.  She has one of those balance bikes.  She's getting much better at it so hopefully she is actually learning some balance and coordination (which has never been her forte).

Sunday afternoon we had a play date with Mike, Kristi, Cora, and Henry.  It was a very humid and hot day so we opted for an indoor playground and picnic instead of an outdoor one.  It was a great idea!  :)  I took my camera to get pictures of the kids together, but never used it.  It's a little hard to take pictures when  you're usually holding an 8 month old.  I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the girls though (not that the boys aren't cute, they just aren't quite as interactive yet).  It's always been fun watching Cora and Ava play together, but as they get older it's even better. 

Speaking of Sunday, the little man turned the big 8...yes 8 months old.  He's finally sitting unsupported, starting to eat a few table foods (he really loves his mesh feeder filled with fruit), gets up on all fours (and then falls, or gets into the plank position), and has one of his  top teeth starting to break through his gums.  I've been waiting for those two top ones to pop out any day.  Today I realized that one of them had started, because the little turkey was grinding his bottom teeth against it.  It's such an awful sound!!!

Monday morning Daddy left for Vegas on a work trip.  Grandma Becker was nice enough to drive up here and spend some time with us.  She was here when I got home from work on Monday, and left today after lunch.  Our time together went very quickly.  We had lots of fun together, and I really appreciated the help. 

Tuesday morning Grandma stayed home with Ava while I took Grant in for his ENT follow-up appointment.  They checked his hearing, which is good and his ears/tubes look great.   I was concerned that he may have an infection because he hasn't been going down to bed lately without being rocked to sleep.  I guess he's just being a turkey and we're going to have to start being a little more strict and letting him fuss a bit since I know he's healthy.  However, it could also be the fact that he's cutting teeth.  We never went through that with Ava.  She always just put herself to sleep.  Hopefully this is a short lived phase for Grant.  If he weren't so cute and happy the other 23 hours of the day I would have to be upset with him.  Anyway, after we got home we decided to take Grandma to the zoo.  We got to see most of the animals and we had a little picnic there. 

Wednesday Grant went to daycare and Ava got to spend the day with Grandma and me.  We spent the morning at the Children's Museum.  She loves that place!  We ate lunch out and then stopped at Candy Land, an old school candy store for a little treat.  That evening we took a walk around the lake and stopped at the park for a bit.  Ava and Grandma played some games, and Grandma introduced Ava to her new favorite game...Simon says.  I think that Grandma was regretting teaching Ava this game.  :)

This morning was nice and low key.  We took another walk and a trip to the park.   Grandma then left after and the kids decided they didn't want to take much for naps.  We ran a few errands and went for a walk/bike ride before dinner.  Grant has been up multiple times since going to bed.  I'm praying for some sleep before going back to work in the morning.  Hope you enjoy the pictures below and have a great weekend!

 

Our tough looking football player.

One sleepy boy

Grant getting his workout in for the day

Our trip to the zoo

Grandma & Grant relaxing in the shade

Ava really wanted her picture taken with the bison

Ava & Grandma

Some fun at the Children's Museum

Some grocery shopping at the supermarket

Ava playing doctor

Enjoying the Dora exhibit

Rescuing animals

Our happy little man

Grandma & the kiddos

Saying bedtime prayers

8 month birthday

Another week

I wish I could have titled this post "Father's Day", but in all honesty we didn't do a lot to celebrate. I worked my 12 hr day shifts, so Nate was on his own with the kids for Father's Day. The kids made him some cards that were waiting for him when he got up. Otherwise, they went to church, to Mema & Boppa's, and then home for bed. I picked up Cosetta's for dinner and that was our celebration. Just because we didn't have a big celebration that day doesn't mean that we don't love Daddy to pieces and think that he's an amazing dad. He truly is a great daddy, and you would be able to hear that in Ava's laughter every night that they play before bed, or see it in Grant's smile as he sees his daddy make silly faces. We hope that he always knows how much we love him and appreciate him. It's been a busy but low key week. I don't know if we'll ever have a week that's not busy in some way.

We did have to spend some time inside this week, as it seems to rain a lot around here lately. Friday we were able to make it to the zoo. I was a bit anxious, but we made our first trip to the zoo with just the three of us (two kids and me). It was great! We got there as soon as they opened and we were home by lunch time. I packed them into the double stroller, but Ava got out frequently and walked. She was great! We had a great time and will be going again very soon (we have to look for the unicorns since Ava didn't find them on Friday).

Saturday Nate had the kids to himself while I was at work. They spent the morning at the park and got to go to our sitter, Cyndi's, graduation party in the afternoon. At one point it started pouring outside and I guess that after asking multiple times Ava got the ok to go and play in the rain. Nate took a video on his phone. She had so much fun just standing out there as the water rolled over her feet and poured over her head. I guess that's what being a kid is about. They ended the day with a visit from Mema.

Nothing else too exciting to report. Grant seems to be getting along well with his tubes. We did have to put him on some antibiotic/steroid ear drops last Wednesday due to the drainage he was having. Other than that I think he is doing well. Hope that you all had a good weekend, and a belated Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

 

 

This was one of our days that we were stuck inside due to rain.  Ava has been into being a princess, so our morning was filled with Princess Ava playing Play-Doh and coloring

I walked out of the kitchen and found her like this on the living room floor.  Being a princess must be exhausting!

Grant getting very excited to be with his sister.  I love how they love each other...praying that it lasts forever!

Getting ready to head out to Target.  She was very excited to get to wear her Hello Kitty rain boots

Grant wanted to try a Twizzler

He got a little taste...

but wanted more.

Girls weekend/Grant's surgery

As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend was my girls weekend with my girlfriends from high school.  Everybody arrived Friday evening.  I was lucky enough to get to see Craig and Nick for a short time Friday evening when they dropped Lisa off.  He is quite the little man...so darn cute!  I loved the kisses, thanks Nick!  Nate stayed for dinner and then left with the kids around 7:30 and was off to the cabin after picking up Mema at her house.  I have to say, there was more than once that I almost shushed the girls, forgetting that we didn't have to be quiet because there were no sleeping children upstairs.  I had such an amazing weekend!  It was very low key with late night talks with wine, shopping, and some good food.  There are few things better in life than good friendships, and I feel so blessed to have had these ladies in my life for the past 18 years.  Thanks for making the trip ladies.  I'm already looking forward to our get together next year!

Nate and the kids got home Sunday afternoon.  Nate was exhausted.  :)  It sounds like they had a nice day outside on Saturday.  Ava's highlight was of course the doughnut that she got for breakfast on Sunday morning at the coffee shop. 

Today was Grant's surgery for his tubes.  For some reason I felt more anxious about it last night than I ever did with Ava's surgeries.  Once we got to the hospital I was fine.  I figured that the hardest part was going to be starving him in the morning.  He couldn't have any milk after 3:30 this morning, so I set my alarm for 3:00 and woke him up and fed him.  He was so confused as to why I was waking him.  He then chatted in his bed on and off for an hour.  So, needless to say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  I was up the first part of the night worried that I would shut off my alarm and he wouldn't get to eat, and then I was up all morning listening to him talk.  Anyway, we dropped Ava off at daycare at 6:50 this morning and were at the hospital by 7:30.  Our surgeon, Dr. Okner, arrived early and was able to get Grant's surgery started a little early which was great.  He was out of surgery before he was even scheduled to start.  The actual surgery went great.  The recovery was a bit rough however.  With Ava, she came out very calm both times.  With Grant, I heard him crying as they rolled him down the hall.  He bypassed the recovery room and came straight to us since his vitals and airway were stable in the OR.  My poor little man was so disoriented and restless.  He wouldn't open his eyes, he couldn't find his thumb, and he would nurse for a few seconds and then get restless again.  After about 20 minutes he fell asleep for a few minutes while I fed him.  I then had to wake him up so that we could put his clothes on to take him home.  He fell asleep on the way home, and by the time that we got home he was back to his normal self.  He actually fought sleep the rest of the day, but was very smiley.  He would not go down tonight so I rocked him to sleep.  I went up to get him out of the crib and he would lay his head on my shoulder, then look at me with his toothy smile that went ear to ear, and he kept doing it.  That little man just melts my heart with his smiles and giggles.  I'm so grateful that everything went well today and I hope that we no longer have to worry about ear infections.    

 

Nikki, Jenny, me, Lisa, & Steph

Our little man before surgery

Spending some time outside this afternoon.  Grant was all smiles.

Ava loves her sidewalk chalk.  If you can't tell, she is drawing a ladybug...next to the beetles that she drew.

We finally have grass and landscaping!

Love those little feet and toesies

Ava reading Grant a book.  It only has pictures in it, so I love to listen to Ava make up stories to go with the pictures.

Not slowing down

I feel like the weeks have been racing by, and I don't see any sign of things slowing down anytime soon. I guess that I should be grateful that we have jobs, as well as family and friends that keep our calendar full. After arriving home last week from Missouri it was back to work, and then we had our last ECFE class for this session on Friday morning. I will miss it. I loved getting to spend some 1:1 time with Ava doing whatever she wanted to do, and also getting some time to talk with other moms. We will be taking the summer off, but will hopefully be able to fit in a session this fall. We'll see, since Ava will also be busy with 3 year old preschool two days a week.

Friday afternoon Aunt Carolyn and cousin Steph brought "baby Andrew" to visit us. Ava slept for part of the visit but woke up in time to have Aunt Carolyn play with her. Andrew is exactly one week younger than Grant. However, to me he looks older even though Grant is a bit plumper than him. I think that it's all his hair. He is a doll and we're so glad that we got to see the three of them! As soon as they left Ava and I changed clothes and Leah, our sitter, showed up. Ava and I left for Dave and Lauryn's rehearsal and Grant got to stay home. After sitting in traffic for quite some time we finally made it to Maple Grove to pick Daddy up, go to rehearsal, and then off to dinner.

Saturday we were back in Maple Grove after lunch. Ava had to be ready for pictures by 2:00. Unfortunately the weather was less than ideal. It rained on and off and was quite cool. The rain did however hold off for the ceremony. It was one of the most personal and beautiful ceremonies that I have ever been to. Ava did a great job being flower girl. She had a great time dancing down the aisle with Lauryn and Dave after the ceremony. We were then off to the reception. I wasn't sure how long we would make it since the wedding wasn't until 6:30 and Grant is usually in bed between 7 and 7:30. Both kids did great through and we made it until about 9:30. A huge congrats to Lauryn and Dave. We are so happy and excited for them as they start their life together.

Sunday we got to catch up on some chores around the house, switched out car seats, and took a little stroll to the park where we got to play for a while. Yes, we switched out car seats. Grant is no longer in an infant carrier. It's hard to believe that my baby boy is now in a "big boy car seat". As I put the infant carrier in the basement it made me a little sad that we will never use it again. Don't get me wrong, it didn't make me sad enough to want another baby. I think that it was more that I can't believe how quickly they are growing. How did Grant get to be 7 months old?!? I think that he is growing twice as fast as Ava did. He has now sprouted his second tooth on the bottom.  I gave him a mum mum the other night and he absolutely loved it.  He chomped on that thing with those two little teeth.  It was quite the mess, but he looked so cute.   

The rest of the week is going to go very quickly. We have Grant's pre-op physical appointment tomorrow afternoon. He is scheduled for surgery on Monday morning at 9:30. Then Friday evening my girlfriends from high school will be arriving for our annual get together. Nate is heading to the cabin for the weekend with the kids since we are all staying here. I can't wait to see these girls and catch up. We have been friends since our freshmen year of high school, and I couldn't be blessed with better people in my life. Through all the ups and downs,these girls are always there. I can't wait for a relaxing weekend with them!

Andrew and Grant playing

Grant wondering if he can get Andrew's toes in his mouth

The Stephs with their boys

Grant trying out his big boy car seat for the first time...I think he likes it.  :)

 

Daddy & Ava at rehearsal dinner

Ava and the beautiful bride Lauryn

Mema, Ava, & Boppa