Officially 10!

It's funny how much you get to celebrate your birthday (when you are younger) when it doesn't land on a weekend. Austin started celebrating his birthday on Thursday the 21st when he received his first gift from Aunt Emi and Uncle Leo (Mario Kart for DS) in the mail. Then Friday to Saturday was his party with us. Then Saturday to Sunday he was with his dad and had a party there. Then Monday we had to celebrate again since it was his actual birthday! That's when Brian and I gave him our gifts. Brian picked him out a PS3 racing game and I got him a lego set. Our biggest gift of all though was a brochure I had designed for him telling him that in less than a month we will be flying out to Orlando, FL and visiting Disney World. In the brochure are pictures of our hotel and places we are going to visit while we are there. When he saw it he got VERY excited and tells everybody we see that he is going to Florida soon. I am so glad we didn't tell him before summer began...he would have driven us crazy! Also that night he got to pick what was for dinner. He chose to have breakfast food-easy enough! And later on Grandma and Grandpa Uglum came to give him their gift-a RC helicopter.
But the fun doesn't stop there...he still gets to celebrate this weekend over labor day at the river with the rest of the family. And of course, he still has a present coming from Grandma and Grandpa Smith! I think he is a bit spoiled!

Floor Time!

Kezzie is getting really good at entertaining herself. She is so cute pretending with her farm! I had to share this photo!

9 months old! And A Tooth!

Besides Austin having his birthday party today...Kezzie also turned 9 months old. She is getting so big and amazes me every day with all the things she is learning. I thank God so much for such a precious gift! Her laugh is so contagious! She brings so much joy to mine and Brian's life (and even Austin's life)!



Today is the day Kezzie also got another tooth...that's #5 for her. It's the top middle left one. She is going to have a mouth full pretty soon!

Happy Birthday Austin!!

DOUBLE DIGITS!!

Is it really possible that I have a child with double digits? Time has flown by so quickly! He is becoming such a little man...showering every day...wearing deodorant...where did my little baby go?!! I thank God for giving Austin to me to be his mom for however long he is on this earth. I can't imagine where my life would be without him. And even though 10 years ago I wasn't in the best place of my life, God had a plan...and Austin was definitely a part of it! Happy Birthday Austin! OK-Enough of that!!

We celebrated his party pretty much all weekend. He was allowed two friends to stay the night on Friday (8/22). The boys (Austin Smith, Austin Schmidt, Jake Usher) all walked home from school. They played outside a lot and rode bikes. For dinner we made one of Austin's favorites...chicken fettuccine alfredo and for dessert we made dirt cups with gummy worms. The boys had the basement all to themselves and were free to watch TV, play the play station, and talk to their heart's content (and boy can boys talk!). I think they were up until close to midnight. Austin said he had a pretty good time! Saturday (8/23) the boys woke up by 7 (before Kezzie even!) and immediately wanted to go outside to ride bikes. They came in for some cinnamon rolls and then headed back outside. By 10:30 we got loaded up to head over to the Super 8 for his swim party.

There, we ordered Casey's pizza,

had cake (I could hardly make a cake for my nephew and not one for my own son...he loved it) and ice cream, and did a lot of swimming (the water was a tad cold so the hot tub was a huge success),oh, and we can't forget presents! Some of the gifts he received were: two footballs, a Chickasaws baseball cap, a squirt gun, some money and a nurf gun. The party was from 11-1. The kids that Austin invited were: Jake Usher, Austin Scmidt, Carter Stochl, Michael Brock, Brock Hanawalt, Logan Burke and Keegan Tenge (Zach Heying, Eric Shatek, Dylan Robinson, Keaton Geerts and Cole Roberson were unable to attend). Austin learned how to do a somersault off the edge of the pool into the water. He was pretty excited and said, "Imagine what I can do off the diving board now!"

Kezzie just played with my water bottle and rolled it around on the floor, she was also very entertained by all the boys getting in and out of the water!

Milestones

8/19/08 Kezzie is officially crawling! She sometimes still prefers her tummy but is using those hands and knees full time now! It's so exciting to see her learn new things!

8/20/08 Kezzie has started pulling herself up to the couches and chairs and mommy and daddy! It takes great concentration but with a little will power, she is able to get to her feet all on her own!

Three Great Years!

Today is mine and Brian's 3rd anniversary! I love you honey and thank-you for three great and challenging years. There isn't anybody in the world I would rather go through life with than you! Happy Anniversary!

First day of Fourth Grade!

Austin starts fourth grade today...I can't believe it! This is the first year that he will have a home room, class periods and even a locker. We took him yesterday for orientation and learned where his three classrooms are and worked a bit on figuring out the locker combination...that could be a challenge! By the time we left he had successfully opened his locker twice on his own and as of this morning could still remember his combo. I think he is going to do great. And although he won't admit to anyone, he admits to me that he is really excited for this school year. He secretly likes school and loves seeing his friends. I am pretty sure we were both ready for him to go back! I will miss him too though! He didn't want a ride on his first day of school (imagine that), so he rode his bike!

My man, the club champion!

Yesterday was the club championship at The New Hampton Golf Course. Brian was barely going to get to play but just this week managed to get a group together. Turns out it was a good thing too because he ended up winning it! He got first place...I have never been so proud! I wish I could have been there to see it.
After 27 holes he was tied for first but then birdied hole #1, in sudden death, for the win. He got a trophy and his name on the wall in the clubhouse! Most of all he will always be known as the club champion of 2008! I told him we are going to have to start a shelf to put all his trophies on!

Getting Big!

This week Kezzie has started to bite while nursing. Not too pleasant of an experience. At first I think she was doing it to satisfy her need to bite for her teething and I would flick her mouth to get her to stop. She was startled at first but now it is clear to me she is biting just to get a reaction out of me. She will do the motion like she is going to bite and then look at me to see how I am going to react. I think she's going to be a handful someday! She does this at every feeding so now I sit in terror, worried she is going to clamp down at any moment. I'm pretty sure she has earned herself a ticket to being weaned if this isn't just a short phase! (week of 8/11)

It was just a short phase...it's over, for now anyway. (8/19)

Kezzie is developing such a preference for things. She has always loved certain toys, which is common among kids...however, she has a couple strange preferences. For example, she refuses to wear her bib while eating in the high chair. She will yank and pull and even scream until she either gets it off or I take it off. She refuses to wear the shoulder straps in the high chair too (again, she just screams). She doesn't like her head to be touched. It could just barely tap something on the way to a sitting position and she gets so sensitive about it. And while nursing she gets really frustrated if my 'free' hand is relaxed on her body. She will grab it and lift it off her until I move it out of the way.

Kezzie is starting to move a couple crawls at a time. She gets on her knees a lot and then only goes a few moves. She realizes it would take a lot of time and concentration to get where she wants to go if she does it that way, so she quickly resorts to the tummy. (8/11)

Kezzie went from a tummy position to a sitting position for the first time. (8/11)

Kezzie is really good at responding when her name is called (Kezzie, Keziah, Kez) and has been responding to that for a couple months now.

Kezzie is waving bye bye to people and things (if we go upstairs from the living room she waves even if there isn't anybody in the living room). (7/28) And recently started waving hello too. (8/14)

Kezzie is really starting to jibber jabber syllables other than ma and da! It honestly sounds like she is trying to tell me something! It's so cute! (8/14)

First time in the wide open big bath and we had to lower the crib a notch (see earlier post). (8/16)

Upgrade!

Kezzie got an upgrade yesterday to the big girl tub! She has outgrown the baby bath so it was time! It makes it a lot harder to rinse her hair now that she isn't at a slant, but it's something she will get used to!That wasn't the only upgrade Kezzie got yesterday...she also had to have her crib lowered. Twice earlier in the day when going in to get her from her naps she was almost standing in her crib. She grabs onto the side of the crib and pulls herself to her knees. She then can start to work one foot under her. If she were to make it to her feet she could easily go over the side! Yikes!

Miss Mischievous!

She's becoming trouble!
And by the way (follow-up on a previous post)...she's figured out how to go around the coffee table to escape the confinement I put her in! It didn't take long!

Phelps Pavilion

Today Brian decided to take a day off work and spend the day with the kids and I. We really wanted to end the summer vacation for Austin with something fun. School starts on Wednesday (20th) so this was kind of 'his day'. We started out by going to the Phelps Pavilion in Waterloo. It just opened in April of '08 so we had to check it out. There was a lot of neat art and fun things to do. I do think Austin was just a year or two too old for it, but he still enjoyed it. Most everything was hands on and had something to do with art or history. Like milking a cow, drawing with finger paint, or riding in the time machine. There was an area of art that with a push of a button did different things using pullys and cranks, etc. This particular one you had to get on the bike and pedal as fast as you could to create wind which then caused the different things to react to the wind.
There was also an area where they had puppet shows and you could put one on yourself. There were tons of puppets to choose from. Kezzie loved this!

There was also an area specifically for infants where Kezzie could get down on the floor and crawl around. There were musical toys she could play with and get her slobber on too!

And as we were leaving we had to stop and check out the cool waterfall. Kezzie and Austin couldn't get enough of that.

After going back to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's for a nap, we went out for ice cream before heading home. It was a good day and I think Austin had fun just hanging out with B, mom and Kez!

The Wooden Park

Today we decided to venture out in the wonderful weather and go to the park for a bit. Kezzie loved going down the slide with mommy and also with Austin. She doesn't have a fear of any of it. She also enjoyed watching mommy push Austin in the tire swing and seeing him spin around and around. She absolutely loved it when mommy held her on her tummy and they swung on the swings together too. However, all fun comes to an end when a nap is to be had!!

Ethan's 2nd Birthday!

On Saturday we celebrated Ethan's 2nd Birthday. He turned 2 on August 7th. Here are some pictures to remember our fun time at his party...

Ethan just got the hang of these things today...he spent the first part of his party blowing on almost every one of them!

Kezzie just loves to watch someone smaller than her. The whole time I was trying to get her to eat her veggies, she had her eye on Bennett. She finally got to get down and touch him!

Bennett is growing so much. He is doing a lot of cooing and squealing. He is even reaching for things. Bennett is about 3 3/4 months here. So sweet!

Ethan's ripping into the gift we got him. I think he likes it...it's a bubble mower!

Grandma and Grandpa Smith got him a trike. He loves it!

When I found out Ethan was having a Blue's Clues birthday party I offered to make a Blue's Clues cake for him. It's funny because I made this same cake for Austin's 2nd birthday also! I think it turned out better this time!

Time to blow out the candles and make a wish! Ethan did a great job blowing out his candles!

Pretty Flowers!

Keziah and I went out to swing this morning and to my surprise were these beautiful purple flowers growing up the side of my garage. They were there last year when we moved in but I accidentally pulled them last summer when I was pulling weeds. I thought they were gone for sure. Kezzie looked so pretty in her purple outfit that I had to snap a shot next to the purple flowers. She just wanted to eat them!

Sweet sounds!

This morning Brian and I were awakened to Kezzie shouting out in her crib. She started out with "mmmmmmmmm-ma, ma-ma". After that didn't work for a few minutes (it takes me a bit to get out of bed and make my way upstairs) she abruptly resorted to "da-da-da-da". It was so cute. It was the first time she said both at the same time. I guess she figured if mommy wasn't coming that maybe she could get daddy to!

Gutsy Girl!

Kezzie has found a new love for this toy. It's been around for a while but only recently she has really gotten into playing and sitting on it. I always have to make sure to stick close by because when she is done playing she will often stand right up, only to fall to her face seconds later. I don't know what makes her think she is capable of just walking away whenever she is through, but she sure has the guts and strength to get herself standing!

Mommy's little shadow!

My newest attempt at containing my shadow! I wonder how long it will take her to figure out that she can get through the baby gym or just go around the coffee table! Every time I get up and walk out of the living room I have Kezzie coming after me. This is a new thing, of course, as she has only recently become a full blown army crawler! Time to baby proof the house!

Another Vacation for AJ!

Lucky Austin gets to go on another vacation. This time he is going with his dad's grandparents (Nana and Pa), his Grandma Schemmel, and great Aunt April along with April's kids (Travis' cousins that are Austin's age) Gregory and Breanna. He left yesterday and will be gone until next Saturday. Today he gets to go to Lost Island, tomorrow he is going to The Falls in Cedar Falls. Wednesday he leaves to go to Minnesota to see distant relatives. Thursday he will see some buffalo and maybe get to feed them. This is at the house of a distant relative. They also have horses and different kinds of chickens too. On Friday they are going on a big paddle boat ride down the Mississippi. Then he will come home either Friday night or Saturday early. I am going to miss him a lot, but I think this will be good for him to get away again. He is going crazy with Keziah and not being able to do much around here. And school is just around the corner so it will be crack-down time again soon enough!

My junk, their treasure!!

I forgot what is so great about having a garage sale and was reminded this weekend. Not only is it nice to earn a little extra cash, but you also get to see the face of somebody who thinks of your 'junk' as 'treasure', and so the story goes...We have quite a few foreign families that live on our streets here in New Hampton so this was a good experience for Austin as he sat with Jamie and I at the garage sale. A few different times we had vehicle loads show up and they would all pile out and purchase a few things (always trying to make a deal). One time I think I accidentally almost had my car sold between the few words I could understand. And Austin often times just nodded his head in agreeance hoping they would stop talking to him since he couldn't understand anything. But anyway, a couple of these men showed up and immediately wanted our futon we had for sale. I was inside feeding Keziah so I didn't get to experience this at all but the story Jamie gave me was enough to know it was all worth it. Neither of the guys spoke much English at all so I guess a lot of hand gestures and explaining went on. The one guy explained that he just started working here and hadn't received a paycheck yet so he couldn't afford the futon priced at what it was. Jamie kindly asked if he had a friend he could borrow the money from. She also went on to explain that we would take less. He didn't understand this so she started counting down from $20. He got out his wallet and showed her that a $10 bill was all he had and she took it. She said he was so excited at the good deal he got. I could just imagine the look on his face. The two guys couldn't fit it in their bronco so they got creative and placed the fully assembled futon on the top of their vehicle and with one guy hanging out the back holding onto it for dear life, they drove off! I am so glad that I got rid of that futon and even more happy that those men now have a place to sit!

Is it just me?

Okay...I am seeking some good sound opinions here. I can't stop thinking about this so I have to see what other people think. I had my garage sale this last Saturday and two of the things I couldn't wait to get out of my house were these two play station games, two different versions of Grand Theft Auto. Now I don't know if any of you have ever seen or played any of the Grand Theft Auto games, but they aren't something you want your 9 year old stumbling upon. At least I don't. Which brings me to my question. Out of all the PS2 games I had for sale, these two were the only two to sell. And they sold to two different young children. One of which is 9 (he was a classmate of Austin's) and one of whom I don't know but he was clearly younger than Austin. Both kids had their mother with them to which they had their approval. Has Austin been right all along? Am I really a mean mom after all?! I couldn't believe that their mothers hardly batted an eye at what was being purchased. I almost felt I should warn them of what the game was about but realized the mothers knew. So the question is this...is this something you would let your kids play? Is it really not as big of a deal as I am making it?

For those of you who are uncertain of what the general idea of these games are, I will give you a little summary...I couldn't find something specific on the interent so I am going to have to go by only what I have seen played. A few things that stick out in my mind is that you can abduct a women and take her to the park in the back of your van and rape her, you can mow pedestrians over in the streets or stick a cap in their head, run from the cops, and even run yourself off a cliff if you want. All of this without reprecautions. In fact, you even earn money for each person you kill. Am I overreacting when I don't want my 9 year old son playing this? After all it is rated M for mature. And I know mature adults who enjoy this kind of humor and that's fine, but to my dismay I sold these games to young children. All I was thinking about was the fact that I wanted them out of my house. I didn't think twice who was going to be purchasing them. I feel terrible that these kids are going to be among my kids in society and that these aren't the only kids seeing this stuff. It's so scary to think about what your kids are learning from other kids when you aren't around. And Austin thinks I am ridiculous for being so 'strict'. So am I? Please leave a comment or take my poll off to the right (it's anonymous). It's not going to change the way I do things, but I would love some opinions on the matter! Thanks!

Garage Sale Time (AKA:Torture!)

It is amazing all the work you have to go through just to get rid of your own junk! I think I have been at it for 3 days straight in my little garage, trying to find some sort of organization to get ready for a 1 day garage sale. I hope it's worth it! My mom is on vacation so she came to help on Wednesday night until today. She was a huge help! When Kezzie wasn't sleeping, they were hanging out together and when she was sleeping...we were working double duty together. The big day is tomorrow and I think we are finally ready! Jamie will be here bright and early to help sell. There is a combination of Emily's, Jamie's, Mine, and my mom's junk out there! I proclaim right now to never buy anything again, as long as it means I never have to have another garage sale! I'm sure I will feel differently when it's all over and I have a little extra cash in my hand!