We have a crawler

Today Grant turned 9 months old, and became an official crawler. He's been working on it for awhile now, but today he went more than a couple of feet crawling. He used it as it primary way to get across the room.  There is no more setting him down and finding him in the same spot a minute later.  This little man is on the go, trying to find anything to put in his mouth.  This morning it was my shoulder, knee, shin, anything he could try to bite on.  Yes, nursing has been a bit of a challenge over the past week.  Those teeth are SHARP!  He doesn't have just a couple, he now has 7 teeth.  He has four on top and three on the bottom.  This allows him to eat quite a variety of things, and he's not picky.  He will eat anything that he can pick up and put in his mouth.  He's also becoming quite vocal.  He has one volume and it's loud.  I can't believe that it's been 9 months since he came into our life.  This time is going by far to quickly.  I rocked him to sleep this afternoon, holding him tight and thinking about how these times are limited. 

The weather has finally cooled off here and today we took full advantage of it.  The kids and I spent the morning at the zoo.  It's so nice to have a place like that so close to us.  Ava absolutely loves it there.  This afternoon we spent a little time outside before running to Target, and then took a little walk (bike ride for Ava) with Daddy when he got home. 

Nothing else too exciting to report.  Hope that you are all enjoying your week!

 

I took all of these pictures today for Grant's 9 month "birthday"

I think he looks huge in this pictures.  I couldn't put his height and weight on here because thankfully we haven't been to the Dr. recently.  He'll have his 9 month well baby check next Monday.

Home, safe and sound

After a very busy week we are now home safe and sound. We were supposed to stay at the cabin until tomorrow but since it was raining up there, and was supposed to rain all day, we decided to make an early departure.

A short run down of what we've been up to, and I'll let the pictures tell the rest...

Nate and the kids arrived home from the cabin last Sunday, just in time for me to see them for about 45 minutes before I had to head to work for another 12 hour night shift.  When Ava walked in the door I almost died when I saw her.  It looked like she had lived outside for 3 days straight and got eaten alive by mosquitoes.  They are nasty this year!!!  The poor thing swells like I do and she had/has bites everywhere. 

Monday afternoon I picked the kids up from daycare and then decided that I was to tired to drive to IA that night to meet up with my sister and cousins on my mom's side.  I got up on Tuesday morning at 5:00 and then headed to Clear Lake to meet up with them for a night of camping (they had all been there since Sunday night).  I headed back home Wednesday morning.  I finally got to spend a little time with the kids.  I worked  Friday and came home to pack so we could leave for the cabin.  I was exhausted so Nate gave us permission to leave for the cabin Saturday morning instead.  I'll be honest, not only was I exhausted but I was also a little nervous driving at night after the run in with the deer the week before.  The Traverse is still in the shop, but should be done this week.  We are very grateful to Mema and Boppa for letting us borrow the Tahoe so that we have something to drive and don't have to rent something. 

So our trip to the cabin was cut short this weekend due to the weather, but that's ok.  We enjoyed the short time that we did spend up there (minus the mosquito bites).  Hope that you all had a great weekend! 

Ava had a great time swimming under and around the dock over the 4th of July weekend.  I heard that she slept very well this night. 

Grant loves his mesh feeder.  He would much rather feed himself than have us feed him from a spoon.  We usually put fresh fruit in this little thing and he sucks it dry.  He's finally realizing that he has to chew his food, so we're slowly starting more table/finger foods.  He's working on his 7th tooth right now.  I feel like he got three of them in one day.

Lisa, me, Sara, Kristin, & Melissa.  We had a great time at the beach that day (even though Melissa needs to learn how to properly apply sunscreen so I don't burn my back).  It was so much fun to see these girls and catch up a little bit.  I'm sorry I couldn't be there for the whole time.  I would have much rather been sitting around a campfire than working nights. 

We drive by this little park in Pequot Lakes every time that we're up north and I've never stopped.  I thought that Saturday seemed like a good day to do so.  Ava then directed us into the little town museum that we never knew existed. 

Riding the bull

There wasn't a lot of sunshine, but that didn't discourage us from a little photo shoot on the dock. 

This rash guard top is a 12-18 month.  I was a little concerned that I might not be able to get it off once I got it on.  I know that they're supposed to be tight, but I'm not sure that they are supposed to be this tight. 

Ava loved playing in the water with her daddy. 

Grant getting a little yoga in while Ava played in the water

Oh deer!

I got a phone call from Nate at 10:30 last night.  My heart sank when I heard Grant crying in the background and Nate said, "we smoked a deer, the car is trashed, but we are ok".  I had so many questions but he of course had to go and call the insurance and get a tow truck.  This left me shaking, pacing, remembering my sweet baby's cry, and wondering what was going on.  It seemed like forever (which it really wasn't) before I got an update.  At 11:30 they (Uncle Wes & Aunt Janna were with them) were resting comfortably at Perkins in Little Falls, with Boppa on his way to pick them up.  Grant got his first, and hopefully last, ride in a state patrol car since tow trucks aren't exactly equipped to transport car seats. 

So, the Traverse currently sits in Little Falls (about 2 hours north of here and an hour south of the cabin).  It won't get assessed until next week as to how much damage there is.  I have no clue how much there is, I'm just grateful, oh so grateful, that everybody is safe.  I can't wait to get my hands on Nate and the kids to shower them with hugs and kisses. 

Safe travels to all of you this 4th of July!

The Cabin

Last weekend I made my first trip to the cabin for the summer (it was the kids' second time up).  We had planned to leave Friday evening, but ended up waiting until Saturday morning.  Grant had some rusty colored drainage coming out of his eye on Friday so I had made him a doctor's appointment for Saturday morning to get it checked out.  Thankfully it was cleared up by then and I cancelled the appointment and we left early Saturday.  We are all exhausted Friday evening so it was ok that we waited until Saturday morning.  Nate didn't get home from Vegas until around 12:30 Friday morning.  I think that he had a good time down there, but was definitely ready to come home to see his family.

The weather was pretty nice on Saturday, but was very windy on the lake.  Ava was anxious to go fishing so her and Daddy went off the dock.  She caught TWO fish.  I missed the first one, as I had taken  Grant inside.  We were just getting ready to go inside for the evening when she caught her second one.  It was actually a descent sized bass.  Daddy of course helped her reel it in (by helped, I mean Boppa picked Ava up and moved her out of the way while Nate reeled it in so Ava didn't fall in the lake).  She just kept saying, "Oh my, oh my".  She was so excited, and was eager to give the slimy thing a kiss.  I'm not so sure that she's my child sometimes.  Ava and Daddy were both beaming with delight...it was a definite highlight of the weekend for them. 

Sunday the weather was gorgeous!  It always seems to be super nice the day that we have to drive home.  We left after lunch, and left Ava at the cabin with Mema.  Our sitter is off this week so Ava stayed up there so our fill in sitter only had to watch one child.  I've talked to her a couple of times and she seems to be having a great time.  Our house has been eerily quiet without her here.  I think Grant even missed her. 

Speaking of Grant...oh Grant!  He has decided in the past week that he doesn't want to take naps.  Yesterday and today he fought it like no other.  He only fell asleep if he was in his car seat or in the stroller.  What is up with that?  This kid is 8 months old, he can't start bad habits like this now!  I usually don't care if he doesn't sleep a lot as long as he's happy.  The problem is that he has been so tired that he's not happy.  I even got tough and tried to let him cry it out today (which I've never done).  He screamed for 10 minutes and when I finally went up there he had snot smeared all over his wet little face.  Sigh!  I'm hoping that this is a short lived stage.  He also started something else really fun this week...biting.  Yes, biting.  When I say biting I don't just mean toys or my finger.  I mean something far more sensitive than fingers...perhaps his source of milk.  When I scold him he looks up at me with his dimpled cheeked smile and starts to giggle.  Little turkey!

I sit here tonight in a very quiet house typing this.  Nate and my babies are spending the rest of the week at the cabin while I stay here and work.  As pathetic as it sounds, I started to miss them before they got out of the driveway.  I've never been away from Grant for this long.  Then I of course hear all the statistics of how many accidents there are over the 4th of July holiday and I just pray that they arrive home safely on Sunday.  My whole life is up there.  I'm so sad that I can't join them this weekend.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I know that they will have a lot of fun.  I love my job and know that it provides me the flexibility to stay home with my kids part time.  However, there are times like this that I hate it because I know that I'm missing out on fun, quality family time.

So, there won't be any updates for awhile, as I'm leaving town on Monday for a cousin camp out in IA.  Wishing you all a safe and happy 4th of July!

 

Even Grant was exhausted on Friday evening (he couldn't make it to dinner due to his napping strike that he's on)

Fishing with Daddy on the dock

Ava's big catch

And a little kiss before they released it

Grant is constantly doing this.  Most of the time he gets in this position and then kind of jumps onto his knees.  He's still trying to figure out what to do with his legs once he's on all fours.