I love the fall

brotherly love

one of many forts

enjoying the cars

building ramps

admiring what he did

he fell asleep one morning while Carter was at preschool

this is what bath time can look like

painting time

watercolor fun!

As fall begins, and leaves start to change, so are the kids. Our kids seem to have made some drastic changes lately that I am having to write stuff down to make sure I don't forget any. We have been busy enjoying the fall weather, spending time outside with neighbors, and the kids had a great week with their grandparents. Hopefully they will have some pictures for me (hint hint)
Lets start with my sweet little *baby*. I can't even use that word anymore because he turned into a toddler over night. Right before we left for Texas he starting standing on his own. Only for a few seconds but he was doing it. Now he is standing for 30 seconds or more. He also started taking a few steps on his own. I think 4 or 5 is about all he does before falling but it won't be long before I have a walking boy!

Standing

happy about his new trick

He also got his bottom left central incisor (the one next to the middle one) He now has a total of 6 teeth. Poor guys just keeps cutting teeth! The good thing is that he really isn't phased by it, but he chews on everything, and tries to bite anything. We have also minimized the bottles he gets and he is drinking primarily from a sippy cup. We have added a pillow to his crib and took away his morning nap. So he is now toddlerized! With that has come his new attitude. He will yell out when he wants picked up, put down, fed, or when he is not happy with his surroundings. We have seen a small glimpse into his first tantrums as well. He is on the move and has *no* fear. He can climb onto the older boys bed, and stands on the chair in their room. My mom said he even climbed up the stairs and went head first down the slide at Holmes park. No Fear! He is also babbling and mimicking lots of sounds. He often talks and makes sounds like he is talking in sentences. We also started working on some sign language and he is signing *more* quite often.
Camden has also hit a milestone. While we were gone, my mom got Camden interested in potty training. So that is that. He has been doing really well. I just remind him to tell us if he needs to go and he has been going. Pooping still seems to be an issue but he has pooped on the potty at least once a day. (he goes multiple times a day) He is really excited about wearing underwear and is embracing his new big boy ways. We will see how this progresses. He doesn't go potty very often so I kind of forget we are doing this. If he continues to do good I will be happy to have two kids potty trained. He also wakes up dry during his nap which is a good sign. (he wears a diaper for nap)

my big boy in his underwear

happy to show it off

Camden also started pedaling on his big wheel. his legs are still a touch too short and he gets frustrated but he was very proud of himself for doing it. His language has grown a lot more lately. I guess I just realized it when we would talk to him on the phone while we were gone. He will tell me things in coherent sentences and could carry on a back and forth conversation.
Carter is becoming more and more of preschooler and is doing really well academically. He is telling me more about the things he learns at school and is pointing out letters and numbers while we read. He is writing his name more and more at school and the teacher is working really hard with him on it. He is so independent now that it makes my life a lot easier. When I ask him to do a task he is capable of doing it with out help and I know that it will get done well. He is making his bed in the morning and doing a really good job. He can sort the toys into the proper bins and picks up on the little things that Chad and I do to straighten up the house. He is eager to help Camden or Callan and I often catch him teaching his brothers things. His imagination has started to run wild and he loves imaginary play. So much so that he doesn't want his brothers to bother him while he is dreaming up his next big lego house.

one of many lego houses he builds

He has a new love for climbing trees and tries to climb any of them he can find. He is interested in the world around him and asks a lot of questions such as "does God stand on the clouds?" or when the offering plate goes around at church he asked Chad "does God have a lot of money?" He also came to the realization that when he was a baby Camden and Callan were not around. After clarifying that they all came from my belly he then asked who's belly I came from. When I told him Grandma Ellen he was perplexed. He thought she was just a grandma, not a mommy. All of it is a very hard concept to him so he is constantly asking questions about it.

my big boy

God Bless Texas!!

As some of you may know Chad and I were able to go to Texas for a week of relaxation and fun with friends. With the generous help from our family who kept our kids, we got some much needed time away in the great state of Texas. Of course it has changed a ton since I was there last in 2009. We enjoyed seeing all the new developments and envied Sarah and Rays *beautiful* new home. We also got to walk through some of the new houses going up in the neighborhood which was also amazing! We spent most of our time just relaxing, eating, talking and watching movies. But we did get out to enjoy a few meals, walk around a mall area and eat with our other friends Gerry and Missy. Chad and I even had a spa day at Kings Spa. It was interesting to say the least. After our torturous acupressure massage (which did feel great afterward, just not during) we got to experience what it would be like to be on fire when we entered the worlds hottest sauna. It was so hot it had an attendant sitting out front in case you passed out. We lasted about 1.5 minutes before neither one of us could breathe and our feet were on fire. We then spent the next 15 minutes in the arctic room trying to get our core body temp down. It was a fun and interesting day. All and all we came back rejuvenated and relaxed. Thank you to Sarah and Ray for being such great hosts and another thank you to both sets of grandparents for all their hard work and help with the kids. We appreciate it *so* much! You guys are the best! Thank you! Thank you!

Sarah and I at the Cheese Cake Factory

our hosts and friends

this is what we look like when we are relaxed without kids

The Infamous *In and Out Burger*

they cut the potatoes in front of you before putting them in the fryer. they also claim to use fresh never frozen meat for their burgers.

They also have a secret menu that if you look at it before you go you can order from that too! We got our burgers *animal style*
We also heard that when this place opened there was a several hour wait to get your food and that people ran out of gas waiting for the food. I really liked it but Chad thought it wasn't any better than Sonic.

Martin's apple orchard

snack time

hay rack ride

carter's friend amelia

listening to mrs. martin

camden picking his apples

carter picking his apples

the boys

picking the pumpkins

carter's pumpkin

Carter went on his first school field trip this year to Martin's Apple Orchard. I was able to take him and Camden there. It was a beautiful day, and I was really impressed with the area. I think we are going to try and go back as a family this year or next. Carter and Camden both had a great time and got to pick two apples and one pumpkin. We got to pick from the Empire trees since they were the most ripe. The apples we wonderful!

Birthday bash

the boys were excited to celebrate callans birthday

great grandma giesela (oma) and great grandma jewel

the treat bags

the birthday sign (i pinned it wrong. sorry it was at the end of the day)

ah! the glorious cake
the "one fish, two fish" fish bowl cake

the beautiful "Cat in the Hat" cake prior to it falling over

after the fall

another view of the fall

the was the best we could do to salvage the cake. (this is the back view)

even after the salvage it almost tipped again
so i had to prop it up until people came over.
it fell even with 3 wooden kabob sticks in it.

the cake table (minus the choc. covered strawberries)

callan doesn't care, he was still very excited about eating cake

he had a cake smash the day before that we had professionally done (pics to come soon)

so he knew what was coming, and he was thrilled

enjoying his cakeparty goersthe kids tables

We celebrated Callan's birthday with family last night on his actual birthday. The celebration was short and sweet. We played outside, watched the traditional video, opened presents and ate cake. I can't upload the video thanks you youtube and their stupid issues with music in the videos. Anyway, it was a good night with only a few glitches. As you can see I had a few issues with cake. My friend Rene came over in the morning and helped me frost the cakes. After working for several hours the cakes turned out great. We even had the slight crookedness of the Cat in Hat's hat. But over time it keep slipping and eventually took a tumble. On it's way down it hit the "one fish, two fish" fish bowl cake leaving them both damage. So we tried to salvage the cake the best we could. Luckily I got pictures before the cake tumbled to remember it by. Callan enjoyed his party and went to bed in his new jammies given by Oma.

Happy Birthday Callan

Today at 7:44am my baby, Callan Reed, turned 1 year! It is amazing! This year has been such a whirlwind. I feel like time past by so fast and I feel like I was just writing the blog entry to his birth. We cannot imagine our lives without this little chubby ball of energy. We love you baby Callan! Happy Birthday my little chubby bubby!  Callan is 30 inches 55% and 22lbs 6oz 42%

Husker Game Day!

our little corn huskers!

woo hoo!

Well today is the first Husker game of the season. I got the boys new jerseys and my mom bought them some hats. The boys are pretty excited even though they don't really know why. It is crazy here in Nebraska during football season. Although I enjoy the games, but mainly just the parties where food is involved, I don't understand some of the craziness! Anyway, here are the boys decked out in their new husker gear! Thanks Grandma for the hats!