Pumpkin Painting

It's been a while - a long while....so I'm starting with last night. Carson attends before and after school care at his school through the YMCA. Every month they have family night and last night was a pumpkin party. Since the kids were in some of their Halloween gear (they have several orange and black outfits that we wear all through October!), I decided to take pictures. These are the first ones where you can see Brooke's front teeth! I cannot decide which of the first two is my favorite, so you can enjoy both of them.

For Carson's first Christmas, Papa and Nana bought him this hippo. He loved it and now Brooke is enjoying it, too. She gets stuck on the wall and just yells until someone helps her. We quickly come to her aid!

Carson is the best big brother. Brooke is so blessed to have him.

Here they are at the party. Carson did a great job painting his pumpkin!

Brooke ate Cheerios and chewed on her toys the entire time so I could help Carson focus on his painting!

Balloon Fest

Wow, have we ever been busy this past month, August flew by!
Carson started Kindergarten and really loves his teacher Mrs. Hanson.
Brooke is mobile and crawling all over, trying her hardest to get to the cat food before she gets caught. Here is one post about the past weekend... More to come in the near future!

We spend last weekend back in Illinois to celebrate Aunt Teese turning 27, and Aunt Katy turning 23.On Saturday, Crissy, Nana, and Therese went to the Art Fair with the kids while Brian, Papa, and Katy went fishing. That night we went to the balloon glow at the Lincoln Balloon Fest.

Mommy & Brooke checking out the artwork.

Carson & Nana working hard on Carson's masterpiece!

Carson was very excited to see all the balloons!

During the balloon glow... So pretty!

A family favorite, the beaver!

Family picture while at the Balloon Fest.

June and July Randomness

This post really has no theme, but there are a few pictures - and moments - too wonderful to keep to myself :).

Carson continues to play dress-up with costumes, and in this one, is being tough Iron Man. And yes, our living room pretty much always looks like a toy store.

Brooke isn't on the move - yet - but she is learning how to roll and scoot to where she wants to be. And she is starting to get around pretty quickly!

Carson has started "reading" to Brooke. She loves it - and really, any attention he pays to her. it was so sweet - he was showing her the pictures and encouraging her to touch things.

Here's the big girl - wondering where her brother went!

Nana and Papa kept the kids so Brian and I could celebrate our 7th anniversary with dinner. On the actual date, we put Brooke to sleep early, let Carson stay up, and made chocolate fondue. Carson really, really enjoyed himself :). And surprisingly exhibited lots of self control!

Our spread - marshmallows, strawberry marshmallows, pretzel sticks, biscotti and fruit.

The sunlight alters this photo a bit, but Brooke looks so sweet! And, had to share this one because she is wearing a classic - the bubble gum dress :).

Brooke is 7 months old!

Brooke turned 7 months old on Saturday! She is growing and changing in so many ways. Her two teeth are getting bigger, she can sit up by herself - even in the bathtub, she loves any fruit or vegetable we feed her and she loves to play peek-a-boo! At her last appointment a few weeks ago, she weighed in at a whooping 14 lbs even and 28 inches! She is definitely long and lean and aside from some yucky ear infections, she is very healthy. We still think she is the happiest baby on the block :).

Iron Man wanted to help with our monthly photo shoot, she he took the sheet off his bed as the backdrop. He's helping her sit up in this photo.

Whoops! Wrong way :).

Here's a good one! We think it looks like Brooke is dancing!

4th of July

In our family, 4th of July rivals Christmas - in fact, for my Uncle Paul (who thinks as soon as you can walk, you can use a punk and light fireworks), I think it is better than Christmas! Carson was a little timid at first, but ended up having tons of fun. Because of the weather, Brooke was inside most of the day, but ended up with all of us outside for the big fireworks! She wore earplugs, but the noise didn't seem to bother her at all - I guess she just got used to it when I was pregnant with her! It was a pretty rainy and yucky day, but wonderful to spend it with family. My only regret is that we didn't get a family picture of the Kaesebier's and Schluep's- we were all dressed in red, white and blue. Thanks for hosting, Uncle Paul and Aunt Lori!

Carson liked to race his fireworks.

Look at Carson's filthy face! And that huge smile!

Brooke was all nestled in with her Aunties.

Swimming Fun!

Between figuring out our new computer - a super-fast laptop that I LOVE - and getting locked out of our blog, it's been a while since my last post, but we're back!

Brooke is a fish, just like her big brother! Here are some adorable pictures of the two of them from a few weeks ago. Brooke sat in the baby pool for an hour and a half splashing and laughing - and cried when I took her out! Carson loves to jump in the pool, find the dive sticks and just enjoys being in the water. We're hoping this fall-like weather stops so we can enjoy the pool again soon!

Carson's First Car

Disclaimer: Brian wrote this post about our trip to the go-carts in Tennessee :).

Two men on a mission...That mission? To be the best darn go cart racers in the world!

Who's driving this thing? The girl too busy waving at the camera or the kid who can't even reach the pedals!

Carson's 1st car...He did a great job averting the many "crashes" that occured during his race. Just imagine 6 five year olds all getting behind the wheel for the first time. Can you say chaos?

These were taken before our first car ride. Carson was really excited and not at all intimidated by the loud carts. It must be all the Mario Cart on the Wii that prepared him for this moment.