weekend fun

6/19- Cainan and I snuck out of town this weekend! I have a friend in DSM that I haven't seen in a long time. Her little guy, Creighton, is a month older than Cainan. This was the first time they got to meet! They entertained each other really well... I think they'll be good buddies. Cainan screamed for about 30 minutes of the car ride there. He was tired and couldn't fall asleep. I stopped halfway to get out and walk around for a bit and he wasn't too excited to get back in the car. He finally fell asleep about 15 minutes from our final destination.
We spent the morning at the farmer's market. It was a beautiful day and we had fun walking around looking at people and products. There was lots of activity for the boys to watch- steel drum bands, streetcorner preachers, magicians, etc. And we got to sample all kinds of fresh goodies. I bought some homemade beef jerky to bring home for Luke. He was pretty excited about it. His comment to me... "You know, I've been thinking lately that I could get into beef jerky." :)After the farmer's market, Sarah took us to their favorite Mexican restaurant in town. It sure was good!! Creighton & Cainan enjoyed some shredded cheese while we at burritos. Then they had some playtime, naps, and we went shopping! We went out to Jordan Creek for awhile that afternoon. I decided to just hang out there until bedtime so Cainan could sleep on the way home. We walked around the mall and the lake outside until he was good and tired. Then I fed him and we hopped in the car. He was asleep before we were on the interstate! He cried a few times on the way home if we hit a big bump or his pacifier fell out, but all I had to do was reach back and pop it back in and he was out again. Hooray!! We billed the day as "Special Daddy Day" for Boaz. Whenever he begged to go with me, we reminded him of his special day. I left Luke with the task of completing the grocery runs that day. He had to tackle Aldi & Walmart to pick up some things for a big grillout we were having in a couple days. Secretly, I hoped that the day would be a little stressful for him so he would feel some empathy for me!! :) But- Luke conquered the day and Boaz was great. (I'm really glad it turned out that way!) I checked in with him at 10:30 and he was finished with Aldi and leaving Walmart! WOW! This is one of the items that came home from the Walmart grocery run!! What special Daddy Day is complete without buying a big basketball hoop?! It's been a great addition to our toy collection. Boaz & Dad (especially Dad) have lots of fun shooting hoops together. It's a little too tall for Boaz to make a basket quite yet, but he is very close. Working on his dribbling skills... It must have worn him out, because he then took a THREE HOUR nap for dad!! (Lucky, Dad!)The boys ordered pizza for dinner and played outside for the evening. They had a great day, and I had a wonderful day. It was nice to get out of town and do something different for a day.

6/20- A few days ago, a friend on facebook posted that she was making a strawberry rhubarb pie. I simply commented that I love rhubarb in the summertime and she wrote back and offered to make us one!! She brought it to us at church and it looked amazing! Boaz couldn't wait to get home and eat it... me either! Luke went out golfing while Boaz & I enjoyed pie.
Rachael and her sisters are amazing cooks. They helped us do the cooking on the missions trip I volunteered on last spring. This pie seriously could have won awards... lattice crust and all!! Boaz loved his pie! He asked for it every meal until it was gone. Thanks, Rachael!

big storm

6/18- We've had some pretty crazy storms around here this summer. Today this crazy looking wall cloud floated over our neighborhood. What does Luke do?? Take the boys outside to see it, of course!! I'll never understand men and their need to stand outside during severe weather. Luke is already training our boys to do the same. When it got super close to our house I made them all come inside before they got struck by lightening! Boaz's reaction to the clouds...



The aftermath of the storm... Usually the creek in our backyard is small enough to step over in most places. Lately, we've had so much rain that it becomes a river! It's been the highest we've ever seen it the last couple rains.

6/17- Today Boaz told me he'd like to have a garage sale. So- we did! First we had to make our garage sale sign. Then it was time to set up shop on the couch.Boaz spent a long time picking out toys and things around the house he'd like to sell. Then he organized them all on the couch. It was quite the display! He sat on the couch- piggy bank in hand- waiting for us to come shopping.

He was very excited when dad came home from work to buy stuff. I had shopped previously and Boaz told me everything was 'one money.' So I got to buy my things for a penny each. By the time Luke got home, he was selling things for a quarter!!Telling dad to have a nice day....Here are a couple videos of the saleman at work. Luke's mom had dropped off a bunch of old cassette tapes of Luke's earlier that day, so he actually enjoyed seeing those in the sale. A bit of nostalgia!

Cainan's current favorite toy is this piano. When he sees it out on the floor, he'll scoot really fast to get to it.

Not everything was all smiles and fun today. Boaz spent a bit of time in his room for being naughty. This is what I heard echoing out the doorway. Such a sweet boy...

sprinkler fun!

6/16- We now own our very own sprinkler! I bought this little caterpillar guy a few weeks ago and we finally got it out today. Boaz was surprisingly more brave than I thought he'd be! Cainan & daddy watched the excitement. He liked to run in and grab the antennae to squirt the tree. Cainan still isn't quite sure about grass.

Cainan 8 months

6/16- Cainan is 8 months old today! He's changed so much in the last month! For a long time, Cainan was a more difficult baby than Boaz was. I'm soooo happy to say that he's turned a corner and is now a super content happy little guy. (for the most part! read on for a funny story about that!) He's scooting all around the living room and could spend hours exploring our house. He likes to be up on his hands and knees and rock, but still isn't crawling. We're finally comfortable enough with his sitting up skills to let him sit without pillows behind him. He's enjoying this new freedom tremendously! He also really enjoys feeding himself. Some new foods he's tried lately include shredded cheese, cottage cheese, puffs, grapes, bananas, & applesauce. We're a little more adventurous with the foods we're giving him than we were with Boaz. (we were more by-the-book with child #1!) Both of our boys had only two moods as a baby... happy or really really mad. There is absolutely no warning as to when that switch will flip. They can be perfectly content and then the next minute be screaming. And neither boy had a simple cry... they both hold their breath and turn blue. This can completely scare any caretaker, but we've been advised that it's no big deal and to just let them pass out. Boaz passed out a couple of times, I think, but it was so short and sudden that it wasn't a big deal. We were told that they'd pass out, and then come to and be happy again- forgetting what they were mad about.

A couple of weeks ago, Cainan and Boaz were both laying on the floor looking at Boaz's magnadoodle. Cainan took one of the magnets from it and started playing with it. Boaz wasn't happy about that and screamed 'NO!' at him. Cainan reacted by screaming at the top of his lungs instantly. I was carrying some stuff out to the kitchen and decided to just finish that task and then deal with the situation unfolding. While I was out in the kitchen, Cainan stopped screaming instantly... I figured he had just gotten distracted with another toy and was over his anger. I returned to the living room to find him laying on his tummy, head burried in his arms out in front of him, no movement. I first thought that he was just rubbing his eyes or something, but as I scooped him up, I realized he was limp and had passed out!!! When I scooped him up in my arms, he did a little shudder (almost like a cartoon character!) and then looked at me with the most dazed eyes I've ever seen. The kind of eyes that say "Where in the world am I?" He was peaceful and relaxed and snuggled with me for about 15 minutes before he wanted to be active again. It was almost like he was so tired he couldn't even move his body. I think Cainan has passed out 2-3 times before, but they were all short ones like I'd seen Boaz do. This incident was the weirdest thing I've yet to experience with a child!! Cainan still isn't sleeping through the night routinely. It seems like we get into a good routine and then he'll get sick and it gets thrown off again. On a good night, he'll wake up to eat about 10:30, then go back down until about 5, eat then, and go back to sleep until 7-8am. During the sick phases, he does that same routine, but adds a 2am wake-up call. He's not a real big napper either. We're on a pretty good schedule, but he seems to not need as much sleep as his brother.
Cainan- you are such a happy little boy. We love watching your personality develop and are so thankful to have you as part of our family. Happy 8 month birthday!!

** for those of you who like to read all of my blogs... I'll warn you that I'm waaaay behind and am playing catch-up this week. I think that I've posted 4 new ones tonight, so scroll down for more family fun! Thanks for keeping up with our family!

artsy stuff

6/15- A bit about me today!! (you're probably all sad it's not about the boys) My friend, Natalie, opened up a new bakery in downtown Cedar Falls!! She asked me if I would do all her chalkboards for her and I was VERY excited to help with it. I haven't done an 'artsy' project for awhile. I had a blast creating these for her. If you get the chance go visit Scratch! Her giant cookies and smoothies are the best! Here are a few samples of my work... Okay- so I really couldn't do a whole post about me. I'll throw in some funny stuff about Boaz. He & Cainan spent the morning at Grandma & Grandpa Bartlett's house so I could work on my project. When I got back to their place, he had some more concerts for me! Their fireplace mantle made the perfect stage! He'd never really lip-synced for me before. It reminded me so much of my sisters and I growing up. We spent HOURS working on songs to lip-sync. And my parents alway watched them and acted like we were the coolest kids in the world!! (Thanks, mom & dad!) It's so fun to be on the other side of the lip-sync concerts now!

This one reminds me a bit of Mary Poppins?!?

newspapers

6/13- A favorite toy for Cainan these days... the newspaper!

Cainan really likes to play with newspapers. He's in luck because there are always some laying around our livingroom! Another favorite activity- staring at his older brother!!

This video shows how Boaz & Cainan communicate all day... we call it the 'elephant noise.' Cainan has just started getting up on his hands and knees and doing a lot of rocking. Luke and I placed bets on when he may start crawling... I voted June 22, Luke voted June 27. We'll see who wins!

A great video of the two boys laughing while daddy is playing horsey. I think Boaz & Cainan are going to have very similar laughs... there are times when they are both laughing that they are totally indistinguishable. The same goes for their crying!

here comes trouble!

6/12- Some nights when we put Boaz to bed he gets up to sneak around his room for awhile. We catch him if we hear him. Often he tells us he has to go potty or something, so we'll take him in one more time and put him back to bed. The last few nights, he has felt the need to change his clothing. And every single time he comes out with this shirt on his body somehow... it says 'Trouble is my middle name." I think it's very fitting when he appears in it. His excuses for why he got undressed are often really funny... "I just have to change my clothes today! All myself!" I happened to be sitting at the computer when he emerged tonight and got these pictures and video.

6/12- Boaz is the king of concerts in our house. He finds a toy to stand on for his stage (often his scooter) and sings or plays instruments to entertain us. He often tells me that it's his job to do concerts. If that's his job, then he sure is a hard worker! Here are some videos of a recent string of concerts!

The Wheels on the Bus


Ho-Ho-Ho Hosannah

5 Little Monkeys


The ABC's (I really love how Boaz says 'ganks!' instead of 'thanks.' I have a very polite little boy so I hear it a hundred times a day. I'll be sad when he starts saying it the right way.)

Counting - still haven't mastered this one yet. Most of the time he says 1-2-3-5-7-8-9. Today he apparently wanted to count in the teens.

masks and snot

6/10- Our good friends Teagan & Kiera got to come spend the morning with us today. We had lots of fun playing and spent time making masks with glitter, glue, puffy paint, stickers, and crayons. It was a messy project, but sure did take a lot of time on a rainy day! KieraTeaganBoazCainan6/12- It seems like Cainan has spent a majority of his little life sick in some way. He's had another round of colds lately and is completely covered in snot all the time. This picture doesn't do justice. This is what he looks like...And this is what his sheets look like! YUCK! (I don't think this picture does it justice either, but there are mounds of snot all over the place!)