Grace is 11 Months!

I cannot believe that Grace is already 11 months old!  This past month I felt like she did something new almost every day.  One of the big things she learned to do this month was to go from crawling back to sitting.  It was so funny the first time she did it because I saw her do it, and she had this look on her face like, "what did I just do?!".  Since Grace is still army crawling, I was kind of surprised when she figured out how to do this because she would just use her hands to push herself up and back until she was in a sitting position.  I didn't think she would figure this out until she was able to crawl on all fours.  She gets up on all fours a lot, but she hasn't figured out how to crawl like that yet.  It's nice that she can now do this though, so that she can get back up to sitting to play with something instead of just laying down on her belly.  On August 24, Grace got her 3rd tooth, the top front left one and then a bit later, her top front right one came through, we're up to 4 teeth now!   Grace also started waving "bye-bye" and clapping this past month.  Grace can now pull herself up to standing, and since she began to do this, she has started to climb the stairs!  Better get out the gate now! :)  Grace also continues to babble a lot, and makes lots of new sounds almost daily.  Here are some pictures from this past month!  I can't believe we will be celebrating her birthday in one short month!

11 Months Old!

Showing off her teeth!

Standing!

Kyler and Norah pulled her up on the couch with them….she thought she was soooo cool :)

Big girl!

Pony tail :)

Sooooo big!

Up on all fours

Happy baby

Heading up the stairs….

Hi Mom!

Sisters

:)

Random Summer Memories

June
6/5 - Norah thought she should do some "work" down in the basement this day. :)

6/15 - We had a visitor under our front deck this morning!

6/16 - Today we went to visit Henry and Geneva.  Henry thought he should wrestle with Kyler :)

July

7/13 - It was finally warm enough to get out the water table and run through the sprinkler!

7/24 - Norah had quite the outfit on today. :)

7/25 - Kyler was excited about his Duplo creation

7/31 - Erik mowed the yard and then spray painted a baseball diamond just for Kyler.  At the top it has the Twins logo if you can see it. :)

August

8/4 - Erik's operations staff came over for a cookout at our house. :)

8/10 - Norah in the swing.  Norah has spent hours swinging this summer in this yellow swing.  She has also mastered pumping and can be seen flying through the air on the swing.  It makes me laugh to see her little body going so high in the air all by herself. :)  

Also, Kyler playing baseball…Kyler has spent hours playing baseball this summer.  Most of the time throwing the ball in the air to himself and hitting it.  He has gotten so good that it goes into the neighbor's yard quite frequently and we have to climb over the fence to get it. :)

8/15 - Another day for lunch at Henry and Geneva's house.  Today Kyler convinced Henry to pitch him the baseball. :)  Nothing like a 90 year old man playing baseball with a 5 year old. :)

9/2 - More swinging!  Kyler also has perfected pumping this summer, he could kind of do it last summer but is even better at it this summer.  Of course since Kyler could do it, Norah had to figure it out too. :)

Labor Day at the Cabin

As soon as Norah and Kyler were done with school on the Tuesday before Labor Day weekend, we picked them up and headed up to my parent's cabin in Minnesota!  We had originally planned to leave the previous Sunday and be gone the whole week, but some plans changed, and we decided to leave Tuesday right after the kids got out of school instead.  It's a good thing too, because the Friday morning before, Erik woke up so sick, he couldn't even get off the couch!  He spent, Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday just laying in the basement.  Thankfully by Monday, he was a bit better and we could leave on Tuesday!  We were able to just stop once again on the way up for dinner, and arrived at the cabin a little after 9:00.  We unloaded, and got everyone in bed.

Wednesday was pretty nice, and the kids were able to put their suits on and play at the beach.  We had a fun time just hanging out and playing at the cabin that day.

Fun in the water

Kyler had been waiting to use this squirt gun :)

Miss Norah ;)

Grace enjoying the sand

This view never gets old...

Enjoying the sunset!

Baby in the sink!

Erik's Twins birthday cake :)

All clean!

Thursday was another nice day, and the kids again had a fun time digging in the sand and playing down at the beach.  It was fun to watch Grace explore the sand too, as she wasn't able to sit up the last time we were there in July.  She had a great time sitting and digging in the sand with her hands, and even army crawling across the beach. :)  Also, late Thursday night after we were in bed, my parents and brother arrived.  Here are some pictures from Thursday.

Checking out the sand

Enjoying some digging time

More squirting

Having fun exploring :)

Friday was another relaxing day, and of course more "exciting" since Grandma, Grandpa, and Ben were now there. :)  The weather wasn't awesome, it was fine to play on the beach, but cloudy and overcast.  Nonetheless, we still were able to have fun!  My parents had recently purchased a stand-up paddle board, and we were all excited to try it out.  Even though it wasn't warm, the water was very calm and it was perfect to try the paddle board.  We all decided it was well worth their investment. :)  Norah and I also rode the tube.  We wore long sleeve t-shirts so we wouldn't freeze, but the lake was so calm, it was perfect for a tube ride. :)  Friday night we also enjoyed dinner in town at a favorite restaurant to celebrate Erik's birthday.  Here are some pictures from Friday. :)

Me trying out the paddle board :)

Ben and Norah

Apparently while I was out paddle boarding, Ben and Norah had a dance party on the dock :)  I have a whole sequence of pictures of them together, it's hilarious. :)

Enjoying the paddle board!

Relaxing

Norah wanted a ride :)

  

Kyler showing me the hole he dug in the sand

Beach baby!

Miss Grace

Tubing!

Erik opening his birthday presents

Saturday was pretty much like Friday, cloudy, cool, but calm water.  Since it wasn't windy, we were still able to enjoy the paddle board some more, tube, play on the beach, and go fishing.  Kyler had been asking to go fishing, so he finally got his chance! :)  

Norah crafting while Kyler fished :)

Grace made her way under the table exploring

Ben's catch :)

More tubing!

Kyler took a ride

Kyler's big catch!  He is so proud of this walleye that he caught.  He still talks about it all the time and can't wait to catch more next summer!  (Yes, we kept it and ate it for dinner!)

Story time with Ben :)

Sunday was about the same, cloudy, 60s, and a bit more windy than the previous days.  We hung out for most of the morning, and went down to visit the neighbors too.  Then after lunch, my parents, brother, and Erik, started to put some things away for the winter.  The fishing boat came out of the lake, the kayaks were covered, we started raking, and reorganizing things so they could be put away.  The sun came out for a bit in the afternoon, but it was still too windy to ski. :(  (We had only gotten to ski once over the 4th of July, so I really wanted to ski again, but it didn't happen.) :(  Kyler enjoyed a little fishing off the dock after dinner one more time.  A great way to enjoy our last evening at the cabin!

More craft time!

Enjoying the sunset

Last time fishing for the summer

Love this picture….Kyler doing something he loves to do, "pitching" rocks into the lake

Mr. Kyler :)

Monday morning we enjoyed our annual "breakfast at the pot" at the neighbor's cabin.  It was extremely windy, which made it sooo cold!  We all ate quickly and then were ready to go warm up!  As soon as breakfast was over, we said "good-bye" to the neighbors, and then headed back to mom and dad's cabin.  We then finished packing up the van to head home.  It was a nice and relaxing few days at the lake.  It's sad to think that summer is now officially over and we won't have any more "beach time" until next year.  

All ready to head home!