Ka-Chow!

Ian will be 3 next week & he's been requesting a Lightning McQueen cake for several weeks. When it comes to being creative with cakes I really enjoy the challege and opportunity!! Last year I ran out of steam since I was pregnant with Audrey. This year, we've been celebrating as various loved ones are here... his first party was "monster" cupcakes at his request... his second party will be this cake... and his third party will be Wall-E.

Here he is seeing it for the first time - he's pointing & saying to me, "No mom! It's a TOY, not a cake!"
He'll be delighted tomorrow when we hack it apart & he finds out it's delicious.

First Food ~ Hurray!

Audrey started eating solids on her 6 month birthday.

Unlike her brother who needed months and months to get used to the idea ~ she was loving it immediately. She loves her oatmeal cereal and sweet potatoes the best so far!

Stats: 75 percentile height, 75 percentile weight, 97 percentile noggin size

The latest: She maintains her "perfect baby" status as she sleeps incredibly through the night, naps well, loves to cuddle, and is generally a happy, healthy girl! She continues to reach & roll and we just spied her sleeping almost all the way on her tummy last night. She babbles a ton and looks at Ian with constant adoration ~ even when he's shoving a spoon in her mouth trying to "help" feed her.

MN Weekend

Daddy & Audrey ready for a fun day of boating on the St. Croix

Aunt Jody& Uncle Scott have an amazing boat: "A really, really special BIG boat!" as Ian says.

Ian loved wearing his "Car" safety vest
Mommy & Audrey enjoying the awesome heated pool at Scott & Jody's marina ~
Audrey did great on her first boat trip & first time in a pool!
Aunt Jody getting a little "baby fix" :-)

Ian had sooo much fun playing with his cousins ~

Thanks for entertaining him Hannah & Andrew!

Girl cousins unite!

Movie stars!

We were happy we got to catch up with some friends at Como Park ~ it felt like Autumn but it was still fun.

Ian & Oliver were babies the last time they played together... Ian had a great time trying to "tag" him but Oliver was just too darn fast!

Madeline isn't too thrilled about leaving...

Ian still talks about seeing "Bolt" (aka Joy the dog)

We had such a fun weekend ~ picnic, grilling with the Renneke's, Dairy Queen blizzards, playing outside, boating... Even though Ian tried to skip sleeping Friday & Saturday it was still great. We're looking forward to our next visit!

Ice Cream Shop

We enjoyed a nice summer evening at the IceHouse with some friends.

I think Ben is crying because Audrey is swiping his pacifier :)

"Ian, Jack, Allie - Say Cheese!"
Okay... at least they're all looking at the camera

Landscape Project

Before

Here we are on Day 1 - Brian rented a sod cutter that worked sub-par for half the job before breaking completely (look at our new Autumn Blaze Maple!)

Big smiles as we were excited, energetic & not sore yet...
Machine has now broken so Brian is ripping the sod out by hand... not fun.
Look at all the heavy bags of sod ~ 34 bags in total!

Day 2: We're cleared! Julie laid the brick edging & jointing sand

Days 3 & 4: We worked tirelessly together on digging holes, laying the weedblock, bagging, hauling, raking, sweeping (etc.) & renting a sod cutter again to finish the job... whew! Out until after 11pm working in the dark every night ~ at least the stars are gorgeous out here in the country!

Finished! The plants are still small but hopefully everything will thrive over time.

Here are Ian's & Audrey's trees in the backyard... bigger than we anticipated at over 20 ft. tall

Oliver Update

Brian & I have adjusted to life w/o Oliver but there isn't a day that goes by that Ian doesn't bring him up. He still misses "his dog" very much. I'm pushing the idea of letting Ian visit him but so far everybody else thinks it's a bad idea. Anyway, Oliver loves his new home, running free in the yard and playing with his "dog brothers" Hurray!