Ready for Vacation

Parker has something important he wants to let everyone know...

Life is a little rough when you are almost 6 months old...

What- really I do get to go on vacation?! Sweet- I can't wait!!



Oliver is also pretty excited- to slow down the number of times a day he asks me if it is time for vacation or if Randy and Kara and kids are coming yet, we made a chain today. He had fun taking today's link off before bed tonight!

Happy Father's Day!!

(Oliver's good smile)


(Parker's good smile)

Combine the two in your head to make a perfect picture :)

I think Eric had a good father's day. He got a garbage can and was excited about it. He spent the afternoon cleaning it out (with bleach and vinegar) to get it ready to fill with water-he's using it for his fish stuff.

We had burgers and fried potatoes for a Father's day dinner and by shortly after 8:00, we had both boys in bed so he was able to have a quiet night.

Happy Father's Day to Eric and all the other dads out there!

Outside work and fun!

We have been enjoying the warm weather with some time outside- our pool has been getting a fair bit of use.


I put Parker's feet in the pool and he immediately bent himself over and stuck his fingers in the water. I think he'll have lots of fun in the big pool on vacation next week.



Parker is really liking toys lately.


Since we haven't gone camping in quite some time, we found a good use for our water container. We fill it up and give Oliver a few cups and he stays entertained (and cool) for quite awhile.

We (and by we I mean mostly Eric) have been working on some landscaping around our house. I didn't get an official before picture, but this shows part of our yard before any weed-whacking or mulching.

This is after weed-whacking and mulching. I think it looks so much better and will be wonderful when the whole perimeter of our yard it done.

We used our surbanite-pickup to go get the mulch-- fold the seats down, add a tarp and fill 'er up! It worked surprisingly well, but after the first load, we realized how many more we were going to need so we put in an order to have the rest delivered.

Here is our pile of mulch- it is much smaller now as Eric has spread quite a bit of it out already. Oliver has so much fun playing on it and digging.

This is what Parker does a lot of while we are outside working.

Here is one of Eric getting rid of some yard waste.

Eric and I are excited to see our yard starting to look a little nicer. We have sprinkled grass seed in a few places and are starting to see it shooting up.

A weekend trip to Iowa

We went back to Iowa for a weekend trip the first weekend of June. We stopped at a rest area for a picnic lunch. Oliver had a lot of fun running around in the grass after being in the car for a few hours. Parker also enjoyed rolling around on the blanket.

We were able to meet my new great-nephew, Marshall Peters on Saturday. He is adorable and so tiny, especially compared to our little chunky boy. It will be fun to watch these two boys grow up as cousins :)


Oliver and Danielle played together while we all visited- Parker tried to join in on the fun.

It was a fun weekend and we didn't take nearly enough pictures to show how much fun we had. We spent some time at the shop on Friday, then went to an anniversary party, then hung out at my mom's house. On Saturday, we walked in a 5K for Relay for Life (we ran a little bit when it started to pour on us). Then we went to some garage sales, then to meet Marshall. We finished out the day at my niece Lisa's graduation party. Sunday brought church, a visit with Eric's parents, my niece Heidi's graduation party, and Eric's cousin Danica's graduation party. It was a very fun and very busy weekend.

Picture Post

Oliver has started easing into potty training. We haven't tried underwear (other than a short stint outside), but he has started going on the potty most times we have him try so I think he is making steps in the right direction.

We had a nice long weekend- we went to a neighbor's for supper one night and we grilled one night. Eric's parents and niece Sierra stopped for a visit on their way home from Kaleb's. It was a nice relaxing weekend with not a lot planned. :)

5 months old!!

Parker is officially 5 months old (plus a few days by this point). He keeps growing and growing- I haven't had him weighed recently, maybe we'll go do that one day this week. Here is the rundown of what this 5 month old can do.
-hold his head up while on his tummy
-reach for and grab toys
-plays with lots of toys
-sits in his exersaucer and really likes his spinning chickens
-likes to watch his big brother play
-reaches for everything (this was one of the only pictures where he wasn't grabbing the lamb's ear)
-will push against your hand if you put it on his feet
-does a lot of cooing
-is very ticklish
-can still roll both ways, but rarely goes from his stomach to his back
-sleeps anywhere from 2-6 hour stretches at night, but either way still just gets up to eat and then goes right back down
-sleeps on his tummy
-he discovered his hands and thinks they are pretty amazing
-enjoys walks in the stroller
-likes to swing outside

All in all, he continues to be our happy little boy. It is hard to believe that we'll be starting baby food with him before much longer. Parker and Oliver are starting to do a lot more interacting- they still like each other for the most part :)

Happy 5 months Parker!! We love you!

May Update

So I haven't updated in quite sometime so here is a May update. We went back to Iowa for a weekend and managed to not take any pictures, but we did have a great time. I helped throw a bridal shower for my niece Kayla- we went out to eat with our families- we got OP taco pizza- yummy yummy!!

The week after we got back, we had some hot weather so we pulled out the baby pool. Both boys enjoyed some outside weather.



We celebrated my birthday on May 9- we made rhubarb cake. Oliver wanted candles to blow out since it was a birthday cake- we found out that warm rhubarb cake and candles leave melted wax in the cake. After the candles, we pulled the candles out and about 1/2 inch of wax had melted off so we dug out a bunch of holes before eating the cake. It was still delicious.


Last Friday I made a batch of cinnamon rolls to bake Saturday morning- they turned out very well and were yummy. We will definitely be making them again.

Eric has been working with a group of undergrads and applied for a grant. He received an $1100 grant to work on a mapping project. He was pretty excited.

We went to touch-a-truck on Wednesday. The park district puts this on and it is a big event with a lot of kids- lots of different trucks come and park in a park. Then they open up the doors and kids can climb in and drive and push all the buttons they want to. Oliver had a blast!! Parker enjoyed himself riding in the stroller.

in the racecar




This ice cream company brought ice cream out to the event and were giving scoops away for free. Eric asked them if it was peanut-safe and the guy told Eric that it was! He also told him all the things they do to keep it peanut-safe and that we can even go into the store and get ice cream there. Oliver was pretty excited to have ice cream and we are pretty excited to have a place to get ice cream this summer!!

front of the fire truck

in the digger

A towing company brought out a flatbed tow truck and just put the bed down and let kids climb up and down. It was a big hit- especially because you didn't have to wait in line for it.


Parker hung out in the stroller and took some naps while we were there. I'm sure it will be more exciting for him next year.

Well that is a quick catch-up for May. Parker is almost 5 months old! Oliver is almost 2.5 years old! Happy Friday to everyone!!