Sleep, please

I know she loves me, but she doesn't have to tell me EVERY night at precisely 1:30 am, AND 5:30 am. Maybe, just maybe, she'll sleep through the night tonight.

P-A-H-L-E-E-E-S-E Isabelle, Please.

According to the Poll...

It looks like Auntie Lynn might be packing her bags soon.

Sorry honey. You're ALL MINE.

(insert evil laughter)

Patches

Today, Patches came to live with us. Patches has lived at grandma Diane's house for at least 3 years now, and started complaining about the heat in the attic. I mean really, what horse do you know likes to live in the attic all summer long??? So I said "well, I suppose Patches can come stay with us for a while. We'll see how the kids and the dog do with a horse running around."

So, this morning Grandpa Greg brought Patches over in the back of the pickup truck. As of now, everything seems to be fine. At first though, this was NOT the case. Carter was scared to death of Patches, although Patches had done nothing wrong. So, we stayed very far away from Patches for the entire morning. Then later we gave patches a bath, and fixed her matted mane (basically just took it off and threw it away). It was very scratchy and black and dirty hair. I explained to Carter that horses can't comb their own hair, and having lived in the attic for so long, she needed our help. But now she's all fixed up and looks so much better.

Later after his nap Carter did decide to touch Patches' nose as he walked past her. And then he poked her eyes. But still, he didn't want to be too close, for too long. Horses can be unpredictable, you know. And all afternoon long I would catch Patches staring at me. It really was starting to freak me out, that it always felt like someone was watching me, and I'd look up at Patches, this giant horse in my living room, and she was ALWAYS looking at me.....and she won't stop. Whatever. She's a horse.

Grandma Diane came to visit, and plopped Isabelle right on Patches' back. Carter saw this and the fear of Patches was gone....forever. Now, they are like two peas in a pod. Carter has even managed to bump his head a few times on Patches' head, and fall off a few times. But all in all, they are still good friends.

Bell-Bell

Isabelle had her 6 month baby well-check vistit at the doc's office today. She smiled and cooed and made all the staff ooo and aaah at what a cute smiley and happy baby she is.

She weighed in at 14lbs, 9oz, and is in the 25th percentile for her age.

She was given 3 shots, a good bill of health, and orders to return again in 3 months.

Horray! We have a thriving baby on our hands!

We are so thankful of our blessings.

Other blankets worthy of mentioning

This one wasn't HAND made, but it was made for Carter by Aunt Anne.

This was a wedding gift from Grandma Alland.

And this a wedding gift from Aunt Peg.

And this a wedding gift from Grandma Violet. The squares are made of some scrap materials from Grandpa's p.j.'s, and some squares from p.j.'s of my fathers from when he was a child. A very vaulable piece, I might add. It is on our bed.

This blanket is from Grandma Elrey. I can't remember the occasion, but its been a while now since it was given to me.

Baby Blankets

My friend, Lisa, is hand dyeing yarn and selling it on the internet. She has created some absolutely devine color combinations, and has more in the works. This is a new adventure for her, and I think she has a great idea. Check out her store Mountain Sheep Yarn, and her blog for pics of all her creations, including dyed yarn, and her own knitted projects.

On the same note, I thought I'd display all of the wonderful blankets that I've received as baby gifts, made by members of my family, and some friends. They are my favorite gifts, by far, because they are all one of a kind, and they remind me of my family members who made them.

And I know I am missing at least one, made by Grandma Violet. This is a patchwork quilt that is at daycare with Carter.

This one for Carter, from Grandma Elrey.

This blanket for Isabelle, from Aunt Peg. (Minus the dog on top.)

This one for Carter, by Grandma Alland.

For Isabelle, with a matching sweater. Again, Grandma Alland.

Cant remember for who, but from Grandma Alland.

For Isabelle, made by Beth.

For Isabelle, from Aunt Robin.

For Carter, made by Aunt Robin.

For Isabelle, from Jer's sister Julie.

This one is HUGE. It was made by Julie, and it fits our king size bed. This one is also on MY half of the bed since I freeze to death every night. It was made for Carter.

This one is for Carter, from Dorothy.

This one is in Carter's crib with him. Aunt Cathy made it for him, and it is the softest, lightest, thickest one we have. LOVE the stuff its made of. I have no idea what that is.

This one is also made for Carter, by good friend, Marilou. Carter sleeps with this one too.

And this one for Carter, by Aunt Peg.

No time to cook

As you may or may not know, I DISLIKE cooking, very much. And, we hardly have time to cook on weeknights. So, my idea was that I would ask everyone I know for their easiest and yummiest recipe they have. This way, all those hours of searching through cookbooks and online for recipes won't be wasted.
Try to keep in mind that my spice rack is stocked with just the basics, and we LOVE dishes that include a bag of this, a can of that, a package of these, add together and cook. Also, Carter doesn't like just chicken, or just hamburger, etc. It has to be mixed with something, so casseroles and skillets are great.
Hard to please, aren't we?????So, if you have the time, let's see what you got!

I'd cook more if I had NOTHING else to do.....I want a nanny so badly!!! Or just a personal chef for meal times. And a personal laundry aid. And a personal on-call babysitter. And a personal bill payer. And a personal contractor to make additions to the house, free of charge. And a personal pool boy, and a free pool. And a sexy gardener, like on Desperate Housewives. And a personal trainer.
IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK???????

I didn't think so.

My Day Off...or not

Carter has an ear infection and tonsillitis, but don't feel bad for him. He's COMPLETELY better by now. And what a wonderful world it is when Carter is happy. :) It makes all of our lives easier. I think he's had that ear infection for a good 1-2 weeks, because he's been a bear for quite a while. Now, he's so fun to be around!!!!

Monday mornings I take him to the Red Giraffe for their "Musical Mondays" program, which is a sing along that lasts all of 10 - 15 minutes, and then they spend the next 30 minutes tearing the store apart playing with ALL of the toys. And the employees don't care, because they said they are "organizing maniacs, and it gives them something to do for the rest of the day"......HA! Music to my ears.

Today is MY day off, with no kids. And it has been perfect so far (its only 8:30....give it time). I was up with Isabelle at 12am, 2am, and 4am (don't ask me why she was up so much, but it drove me NUTS!), so Jer agreed to take the kids to daycare this morning. He is on call, and I am tickled pink that he hasn't been called in yet. This meant that I slept till 8am, while he got up with Isabelle, yet AGAIN, at 7am. I sit here with my coffee in hand, the house is quiet (music to my ears), and I have nothing to do. Okay, I have a ton of things I could do, but lets pretend for JUST A LITTLE while.

Unfortunately for Jer, he will be working on the bathroom on his day off, because I said so. I'm sure he would like to NOT be finishing what HE started, but it has gotten to the point that my beloved Grandmother, who LOVES my children, doesn't like to come over because she has to go down the stairs to use the restroom. And it has gotten so bad, that Isabelle is almost rolling and flopping herself out of her baby bath tub, however, I have no where else to bathe her. And it has gotten so bad, that I think Carter would go pee-pee on the toilet, but I wont start potty training him until we have a freaking toilet on the main level.

Did I happen to mention that it has now been almost THREE months that our bathroom has been out of order?????

Today looks hazy and cloudy and wet. Guess I wont be sitting in the pool all day. Now I'll HAVE to fold all that laundry, and clean all the floors.

And I thought I'd have a day off....

To zoo, or not to zoo....

Friday, July 13th, my family and I all took vacation days from work so that we could go to the zoo. It started out as an EARLY departure, as we had 3 & 1/2 hours to drive just to get there. Isabelle stayed home, and Carter came with. Upon pulling into the zoo parking lot, Carter finally fell asleep, as 11:00am is his nap time. We let him nap while we ate our sandwiches in the parking lot. After he woke up, we headed for the zoo. Carter seemed quite sleepy, and we contributed it to the fact that his nap was cut short....except he never really came around. Then he started getting very HOT.


Perfect.


Our first trip to the zoo, and Carter suddenly gets sick. He spent most of the day in the stroller sleeping or being carried by someone, as we all took turns.


Saturday I took him to Urgent Care, and surprise surprise, he has an ear infection and tonsillitis.


It just goes to show that EVERYONE is happier if we just stay home. Jer and I aren't planning on leaving the house again for the next 5 years.


We were very pleased that Carter soon started feeling better. We rigged up the bubble machine and headed out to the back yard. I'm not sure what he thought about all those bubbles...but it was funny.
Isabelle, on the other hand, is chipper as can be. And so far, she does not have tonsillitis, or a virus.

And today, she is 6 months old.

...and bears, OH MY!

My mom lives in Minnesota, just across the river from us here in Wisconsin, and they had a black bear in their back yard early this morning at 4:30am. Needless to say he returned this evening at 10pm to finish up any left over bird seed that he may have missed. According to my mom, the bear crushed ALL her bird feeders, and bent one of the iron feeder poles all the way down to the ground. She brought in all the rest of the feeders, but the bear hasn't forgotten!!! After lounging in her back yard tonight, 3 police officers and the DNR (and ALL the neighbors) went over to get a look. They turned on the light in the back yard, and the police officers were shinning their bright lights at the bear, who didn't mind at all. Then the bear got up and took a drink out of the little pond that sits not even 5 feet from the screen porch..where everyone was standing watching!!!! One of the police officers got a little spooked and latched the hook on the screen door. My step-dad chuckled and delivered the unfortunate news that the little hook isn't any stronger than the screen that lies between them and the bear. Unafraid of human voices, and obviously lights, the bear hung out for a solid hour.....heck, who needs the zoo?!?!?!?!? I'm afraid the bear will be back for more, and there is still the garden and the compost that he hasn't made a mess of yet. YIKES!

They have gotten quite the attention from local media. The t.v. stations have gone over to interview them, and took footage of their back yard, etc.

I'd say this has to be one of the biggest events of the year!!! (Next to Carters birthday, of course.)

Ever Evolving

Isabelle has become a completely different person in the last 3 days. Over the weekend, she discovered that she has a voice, and can use it. So she's been squawkin up a storm. I think it's so funny the way she goes on and on and on. She rolls on the floor side to side, back and forth. Sooner or later she'll roll herself onto her tummy and get stuck...and get mad. She can hold her toys and put them into her mouth, and she really gets excited about them too. The weird part about all of this, is that I think its absolutely amazing because she's MY little girl. To everyone else, this is just a VERY boring post. But it's almost like I understand her, and all her milestones, and I can relate with her as she squawks, plays, and cries. I know what she's thinking, and it's SO COOL to just know what she needs, and to be able to give her what she needs.

Carter, like Isabelle, had some new experiences this weekend. One of which was Play-dough. Do you have any idea how many years its been since I'VE touched Play-Dough???? I think it was fun for BOTH Carter and I. Although, I got disappointed when it only lasted 15 minutes. I spent some time showing him how the shape cutter worked, and the spaghetti press, and the rolling pin...and in the end, he just got mad that he couldn't do it very well himself. I was hoping for hours of Play-Dough fun..instead I got 15 minutes and a frustrated toddler in the end.

But, make no mistake, there are may other things that Carter loves to do. Like the dishes. Bubbles are his new thing, and apparently bubbles on his head are even better. What is with this kid and putting EVERYTHING on his head?????

And you know he put ALL those stickers on his head by himself.

With NO help from ANYONE else...that's right.

And while Carter is busy flooding my kitchen, Isabelle enjoyed her saucer for the first time. Since as of a few days ago, she is reaching for and grabbing onto her toys, she found the saucer entertaining for quite a while, which is, of course, music to my ears. And a toy that my children like to play with, is always well worth the investment. So hats off to Grandma Kay for a purchase well chosen!!! And thank you! The saucer has been great for Carter and now, Isabelle too.

And then there's the bouncy chair. Love this item as well. This evening as I fed Isabelle her rice cereal, which she LOVES, she sat on the floor in the bouncy chair. She gobbled it up in no time, and had a cute but messy face. "What a perfect shot of a rice-cereal-milestone for her", is what I was thinking. I went to the kitchen, grabbed a washcloth (for after the pic), and the camera, and returned to the living room where I found my messy-faced baby not so messy-faced anymore.

I was stumped for a second....

Until I noticed Simon cleaning up her hands. And her face. And her shirt.

So much for that Kodak moment...