Happy Harvest!

We had a harvest party on Saturday to celebrate this years local harvest. We had all locally grown food and I put on a farm-themed puppet show for the kids. We had Mara and John visit us the first week in September. Scott, Terri and Shawna also came to visit on the weekend. Bryson got to take his first ride in a convertible car. Bryson really enjoyed having the company and was particularly attatched to John. (He'd say: Grampa John, where are you?) Both Kyle and Bryson had a good time at the OMSI (it's like the children's museum) with Mara as well.

Kyle is walking much better now, he won't hold my hand anymore. He goes pretty fast too. Now that he's more confident he's also falling alot too. He's got lots of bumps and bruises. He's working on talking quite a bit too. He can say lots of things now: dog, bye bye, shoe, truck , car, ball, mama, more, no and outside, to name some. He seems more interested in cummunicating than Bryson was. He's more interested in books as well. I think he's starting to put on some weight, he's been eating really good and feels much heavier. He loves to pet the dog and cat and is able to do some simple puzzles. He loves to put toys in and out of a container over and over again.

Bryson has improved with his speech and has even worked with me a little on his articulation. He can count to eight now and does so often. He loves to run, jump, ride bikes and climb. Unfortunately he can climb over our fence and most of our child gates, he also has shown an interest in climbing trees, it's probably good he can't reach to get into the trees. He loves to play with his lego thomas toys. He likes to sing and is pretty good at happy birthday. His behavior is overall much better, but he still has some bad days (today is a pretty bad day actually). I'm trying to get both boys sleeping in the same room. It's more of a challenge than I first thought. Bryson wants to sleep in the crib again despite his new Bob the Builder sheets.

Ken and I are doing well. Ken has been having stomach troubles, but so far all the tests haven't found a cause. We celebrated my birthday with a pizza dinner (my favorite) and cake. Both the boys were bouncing off the walls all night on a sugar high! I posted some new videos on the video website, so check it out!

Happy Birthday Grandma Bonnie!

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No more Nuks!

Well, the big news this month is Bryson has given up his nuks. He gave them away to the babies at daycare and did so much better than I ever expected without it. He had a little more difficulty falling asleep, but didn't throw any big fits or anything. Now I'm thinking, why did we wait so long? His behavior has been great lately, he has shown more interest in using the potty (probably because of the suckers)and is speaking much better (although we did make an appointment to see a speech therapist in a couple weeks). He is now obsessed with the movie Cars (a present for good behavior at Kathleen and Matt's wedding) and wants to watch it all the time.

Kyle is growing up! He weighed almost 18 lbs at his last weight check and Dr. Speaker said he was back on the growth curve. He is starting to talk a little bit and says "Ball" or "ba" consistently. He sometimes says mama and no and seems to say other things too, but isn't consistent. He loves to throw his food to the dog and lets him lick his hands when he's in the high chair. He has finally started walking but still crawls about half the time. He can ride his little bike now too, forward and backward. He loves to play with Bryson and will go knock on Bryson's door when Bryson is napping.

We finally bought a double BOB (thanks to my mom for chipping in) and Bryson and Kyle really seem to enjoy it. I took them running on my first time out, but it was so hard! I've been walking with it a few times and I will work up to running more, I need to get back in shape! We've been getting alot of yardwork done this summer and Ken has replaced a couple windows upstairs. My garden is doing well, the beans are ripe now, I'm gonna have lots of squash next month. Ken had surgery last Fri. so we won't have any more kids. His recovery is going pretty well, but he was on his back for two days last weekend. We're hoping to go camping sometime this summer, but it seems like so much work!

WI trip!

Sorry I missed an entry last month, but we've been busy. We had a wonderful trip back to WI. Unfortunately both our flights were changed to red eye flights which isn't much fun with small children, but we survived. The boys loved having family to play with and stayed real busy. Here are a few higthlights of the trip:

Liza Zimmerman had a beautiful wedding and reception at Quivey's Grove. Ken got to visit with cousins he hasn't seen in years!

The boys had fun at Gramma Bonnie's feeding worms to the fish in the lake and riding on the bouncy horse (especially Kyle, see videos). Bryson loved all the rides at Bay Beach and Kyle was able to go on some too with Skye! Bryson had fun swimming in the pool at Skye and Vincents with Gramma. The boys had fun taking a Kayak ride at the cottage and Bryson had fun in the hammock too. We had a nice dinner for my parents 40th wedding anniversary, but had to leave early because Bryson was getting difficult. My mom watched the boys for us overnight and Ken and I went to Manitowoc for a night for Ken's birthday. We made a birthday cake before we left and Bryson had fun singing happy birthday.

At gramma Mara's the boys got to play with John's old trucks. Bryson loved going for a ride in the boat and liked to go "fast". They got to chase chickens at Ernie and Debbie's. Ken had some friends over for a cookout and we all went to the Union to watch some music afterward while Mara and John watched the boys. Bryson got to go for a ride on the tractor with John and picked raspberries (he didn't seem to enjoy that too much).

Things are starting to get back to normal now that we're home. The boys are in a new daycare (it's less than half the price of our last place) and they seem to like it, they didn't even cry when I dropped them off on the first day. Kyle is more intersted in walking and he'll walk while holding your hands and he can stand for a while without holding on. He said his first word: ball or 'ba". He sure is a little cutie pie!

Bryson has been very well behaved over the last few days and seems to be talking a little better. He is singing more to himself and even answered the phone the other day. His favorite movies are Toy Story and Monsters Inc. We finally bought a sandbox to keep them out of the garden and Bryson really loves it, he'll play in there by himself for quite a while.

I'm still working part time and Ken's still enjoying his new job. We still have many projects to complete around the house, it takes so long to get things done when you have two kids! I put more movies on our video site, so check it out!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Bryson has really turned into a good helper this month. He helps pick up his toys and throws things in the garbage for me. His behavior is much improved as well and he even shares with Kyle on his own without being asked. He is talking much more and is trying to talk in full sentences. I think he gets a little ahead of himself though and you can only understand a few words and the rest is babble. He seems to enjoy playing with Kyle and will ask me to bring Kyle into the playroom to play with him. Now that the weather has been nicer we are spending more time outside. He loves to ride his bike and can go FAST! I can hardly keep up with him. He is also helping with the gardening and loves to play in the dirt.







Kyle turned one this month! He is getting around crawling and can walk holding onto things. He has just started to stand holding my hands, but still won't try walking. He babbles alot and loves to laugh and play with Bryson. Unfortunately, he is not gaining weight. At his 1yr. appointment he only weighed a little over 15 pounds. His length is growing on track, but he is not putting on weight. It hasn't helped that he's been sick the last couple weeks. We have an appointment to see a nutritionist the end of the month to check if he's getting enough calories. If it turns out he's getting enough calories they will do blood work to check for any disease that may be causing him to loose weight. He doesn't act as though he is sick, so I'm pretty optimistic he's just small. He loves to play with cars and rolls them on the ground while he crawls, its so cute! He got a few of his very own cars for his birthday which he really likes.

We had a wonderful visit with my parents last weekend. We had a late Cinco de Mayo celebration on friday and went to the park with the boys. Kyle wasn't feeling well the first few days, but really perked up by the end of the visit. We had a birthday party for Kyle on Sat. And everyone decorated a car cake or two for his party. The most popular cakes were the police car, fire truck, race car (complete with spoiler) and the cement truck. I also made a pinata and put on a puppet show. The party was sponsered by the letter "C", so I made a cat pinata (filled with candy) and did a C for cookie puppet show and we ate car carrot cake, chicken, carrots, cellery, corn, cheese and crackers and chips for the meal. The older boys also tooks turns riding in Bryson's power wheels car. I made the pinata fairly indestructable and my mom had to step on it to get things going. Bryson cried all the way to school after we dropped my parents off at the airport. I'm not sure if he was crying because they left or because he wanted to go on the plane. But, we sure do miss them, I think both the boys really enjoyed playing with them and my dad was able to get Kyle to sleep better than anyone. Don't forget to check out the videos, I've got the puppet show and Kyle's birthday on there!

April

We took a trip to the Oregon coast last weekend and had a great time! Bryson loved playing in the sand and Kyle seemed to enjoy it as well. We got a hotel room right on the beach. It was beautiful weather even though it was a little cold and windy. Bryson tried salt water taffy for the first time and didn't like how chewey it was he spit it out and cried because he couldn't get it out of his teeth. Bryson enjoyed getting splashed by the seals at the seaside aquarium and looked at all the fish. He is talking more and can put three to four words together, but is still pretty hard to understand. He will be moving up a class at daycare and they work on potty training! I can't wait. Bryson is really starting to get jealous of Kyle and very possessive over his toys now that Kyle is mobile. We've been struggling with disciplining him, but things seem to be getting better. We hardly ever go out to eat because Bryson can't sit for more than 10 minutes. He is a very physically active kid and won't sit and color for more than a couple minutes. He loves to run, climb, and jump!

Kyle is crawling fast now and can pull himself up to stand and walk around the furniture. He likes to get into all Bryson's toys, especially the ones Bryson is playing with. He's not very interested in babyfood anymore and is eating table food really well. He's seems to be gaining weight, his face is looking more chubby. The teacher at daycare said they were going to keep him in the infant room an extra month because he is so small (and because she really likes him). He loves taking baths with Bryson and goes into the bathroom and stands at the tub whenever he gets a chance. He loves watching Bryson and they laugh and play peek-a-boo games together.

I'm keeping busy with my job, working two days a week and I've got my garden started with hopes to expand with more garden on the side of the house. Ken is liking his new job with SWMC doing home health and has been listening to books on tape while he's driving in the car. We're looking forward to my parents coming to visit next month for Kyle's birthday. I can't believe he's gonna be one already!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jim!

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