Norah is 16 Months!

Norah turned 16 months old on June 5th!  (I think I'm almost caught up on the blog!!) :)  Her last molar popped through right after turning 16 months old, so glad we are done with those!  Just the four eye teeth left!  I am still amazed by Norah's climbing abilities, this month it was the piano!  Yes, I said the piano.  Our dining room table is fairly close to the piano, so I had cleaned Norah up after a meal, put her down to play, and pushed her chair all the way over to the piano so I could clean the floor under her chair.  I then went into the kitchen for a moment, while I was in there, I heard the piano being played.  I didn't think much of it, because Kyler plays the piano from time to time.  However, all of a sudden Kyler says, "look at Norah playing the piano!!".  I just thought she was playing it with him, standing on the floor next to it.  But, when I came out from the kitchen I found Norah STANDING on top of the keys, playing the piano with her feet!!  I should have grabbed the camera, but I got her down instead. :) Another thing from this past month is that I am so amazed at Norah's ability to understand what we say and follow simple directions.  She is very smart and knows what a lot of things are and where they are kept.  If you tell her to go get her shoes, she will go out and find a pair of her shoes to put on.  If you tell her to throw her diaper away, she will go get her diaper, and put it in the trash.  She has started to say a few words; mama, dada, duck, and truck, are the ones I can think of right now.  But even though she can't say that many words, she understands A LOT of things.  Erik and I were talking about it, and we think part of her understanding has come from just watching Kyler do things and then trying to copy him.  Her walking is still getting better and better all the time, and she doesn't really need to hold my hand anymore when she wants to walk in the grass....unless she wants me to get her something out of the shed, then she reaches for my hand and leads me to where she wants me to go. :)  Norah's hair is getting so long.  We have to put it up on a daily basis, otherwise it's in her eyes and she has to try to look through it. :)  The easiest thing to do is put it in a pony tail on top of her head.  I have several bows on small clips, but if she feels it, she likes to pull it out and play with it. :)  Here are some pictures of our big girl this past month!

 16 Months Old!

 Loving the Rubbermaid box :)

 First time in a swim suit at the water table this summer!

On a wagon ride!  This girl LOVES rides of all kind-wagon, stroller, bike trailer.  She also LOVES to wear her bike helmet, so don't be surprised if you drive by and see her wearing it around the yard. :)

Pretty girl

Doesn't everyone have a snack in their bike helmet!?! :)

First pig tails!!  So cute!

Kyler's 3 Year Pictures

We took Kyler's 3 year old pictures towards the end of May.  It's kind of a challenge to get a 3-year-old to sit and smile, but I think we managed to get a few good ones...enjoy!

And of course we tried to get a couple good ones of Norah and Kyler too..... :)

I think this one's my favorite :)

Norah is 15 Months!

Norah was 15 months old on May 5th!  I don't really feel like she had any big "milestones" this past month, but she did get 3 of her 4 molars!  I'm so glad we are done with those, they made her a little crabby at times. :)  All that is left to come through now is the bottom left one, and I can see it just below the gums, so I know it won't be far behind!  Then we just have the 4 "fang" teeth left, and we are done with teething!  Norah continues to walk better and better all the time.  She still likes to hold my finger though when we walk through the grass since it's so bumpy, but she is getting better and more steady each day.  Norah loves to be outside and we have been spending a lot of time in the back yard playing. She also still loves to be around Kyler and be doing whatever he is doing.  Norah's climbing abilities continue to come out on a daily basis.  She is often found standing or sitting in the middle of the dining room table (see photo below) if you don't stop her before she gets to that point.  She also loves to climb up in Kyler's booster seat at the table, especially in the mornings before he gets up, and eat some Cheerios or drink some juice.  Norah still takes two naps a day and will still get up once or twice in the night.  I think it was more this past month with her teeth coming in. :)  She also continues to eat just about everything.  Fruit is definitely her favorite, but she eats lots of veggies too.  Here are some pictures of our 15 month old!

   

15 months old! (a day late) :)

Pretty girl!

Norah often pulls out her "hair pretty" and I thought she looked like Elvis in this picture :)

Just watching for the street sweeper!

Giving Norah a ride in the wagon!

Cheese!!

On the table!

Opening Easter candy :)

Kyler's Birthday Parties

We had two birthday parties for Kyler.  The first one we had was the Saturday right after his actual birthday.  We invited just family to this party.  Two of my cousins live close by and have always invited my extended family to their kids' parties, so we always include my extended family and Erik's immediate family for this party.  It was a great evening!  We had about 25 people come to help Kyler celebrate turning 3.  The weather was kind of cool and rainy, but we still were able to have fun. :)  We started the party with a dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy potatoes, fruit, chips and relishes.  After dinner we all hung out for a while, and then Kyler opened presents.  After presents, we had cake and ice cream.  Both of our parents were the last guests to leave, and I think they left around 8:30 or 9:00.  We were even lucky enough to have our friend Lauren stop by, who was back from Des Moines for the weekend! :)  We are so blessed to have our families so close and they blessed Kyler very much by benign here to share his special day and by the gifts they brought for him.  Here are some pictures from the first party!

Train Cake!!

Henry and Geneva! (Geneva babysat me after I was born!) 

Most of the kids! 

Opening presents :)  Cars guys! 

Still opening presents :) 

Deciding what to open next...

The "crowd" :)

My two Uncles working on Kyler's remote control dump truck :)

Kyler's rubber band riffle :)  Made by Henry!!

Blowing out his candles! (Funny story...we had a box of candles, frosting, etc. from my parent's house, and so Erik just grabbed 3 candles out of a box...come to find out they were trick candles) :)

Birthday boy enjoying his cake!

Birthday Party #2

We had a "kid" party for Kyler the Friday after his "family" party.  We haven't quite gotten to the stage of inviting 8 or 10 friends over, but Kyler does have some friends he enjoys to play with, so we invited a couple families over for the evening.  The Reisetters and the Williams' came over to our house to help Kyler celebrate with his friends.  We had a yummy meal of homemade pizza, salad, fruit, and chips when everyone first got there.  After dinner, all the kids wanted to play outside, so they headed out to the back yard for a while.  After playing for a bit, we all came back in and Kyler opened presents and then we enjoyed some cake and ice cream.  We are so thankful for the buddies and the families that Kyler has and loves to play with.  We appreciate you coming over and  helping Kyler celebrate turning 3!  Here are some pictures from the "kid" party! :)

Ahnie and Norah waiting to eat!

Brett and the Kids :)

Kyler and Jillian enjoying their pizza!

Playing outside...

Mason heading down the slide :)

Opening presents...

Tow Mater!

And an Ant Farm!!

We are so grateful for everyone who helped celebrate Kyler's 3rd birthday!!  Thanks again!!!

Kyler's Birthday!

Kyler's actual birthday fell on a Thursday this year.  Erik had been looking at the Twins baseball schedule earlier this spring, and thought it would be fun to take him to a Twins game on his birthday since they had a home game at noon on that day!  So, we got up early, loaded up in the truck, and took off for Target Field at about 8:00 am.  Norah and I almost didn't go, as she had had a runny nose and hadn't been feeling very good and hadn't slept well for the past week.  But, at the last minute, we decided to just go, and I'm so glad we did because she slept the best she had in a week.  We got to Target field at about 11:45, and ate a quick lunch (that we had brought with us) and then headed into the game.  Our seats were on the first level right past the 3rd base line, they were great.  It was a bit chilly as we were in the shade, but it was fine, it was a beautiful day out!  Norah got a bit ancy and I had to take her out for a while, but then after we came back she fell asleep.  Kyler did great and sat with Erik the whole game.  The game itself was good, the Twins were behind in the beginning but then came back at the end and won the game!  We actually left right before the last inning because we had already been there for 3 1/2 hours, but it was a great game.  If you ask Kyler how the baseball game was, this is his answer, "There were fireworks but no horses!".  This is because if you remember this post, Kyler went to a game last fall with Erik and Erik's dad.  At the game, they had the Budwiser Clydesdales and so Kyler was expecting that they would be there again....he was a little disappointed. :)  Here are some pictures from the game:

Us at the game!

Right outside the stadium :)

After we left the game, we just headed home.  The kids both fell asleep not that long after we got in the car, so that was great.  We made a quick stop at the outlet mall (by my request) :) on the way home, and then stopped for dinner at Culver's.  We made it home about 8:00, it was a long, but fun day!

When we got home, I realized I hadn't really wrapped any of Kyler's birthday presents (oops!) :).  So I quick wrapped a couple of them so he could open something on his "real" birthday. :)

Opening presents 

Some Thomas Train Track! 

Next present...

A baseball tee!! 

He waisted no time setting up the track :) 

Had to swing his bat too :)

Kyler still had a few more presents to open on Friday, so we opened those up Friday evening after dinner.

Smiling with his presents

Percy! 

It's a.... 

backpack!! :)

And a Lightning McQueen tent! :)

We had a great time celebrating Kyler turning 3!  What a blessing he has been to our family the past three years!!!