Vacation - Day 3

Today, we all got to sleep-in. It was nice!!!
James, of course, got up around 7:00 (he's off by 1 hour, but I'm not going to push this time-zone thing on him, so that I can get sleep when we go back home! :0)
Pat and Catherine both had to work, so Tim and I decided to do what we LOVE to do, on vacation, best. Absolutely NOTHING! And it was everything we dreamt it could be! :0)
Grandma and Grandpa arrived late afternoon, they arrived here in MN on Saturday, but were busy visiting family and friends. As soon as they arrived at the house, we gave some last minute instructions for them, while they watch James, and we were off to Peter's FIRST Baseball game - ever! I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we all had, especially Peter! He sat through all 9 endings and loved every moment of it.



Of course, the popcorn, cotton-candy, hotdogs, hot pretzels, ice-cream and donuts probably helped keep Pete entertained!
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You know how they always have that organ music, for all of the 'fighter' songs and tunes. (I only heard 1 mistake. . .he did well!) Well, after each one you're supposed to yell 'CHARGE!!'. Being that this was Peter's first game, ever. . .we were trying to teach him when to yell, when to clap and when to cheer. After a few of these tunes, Catherine turned to me and said, "I think he's yelling 'george'" We laughed and waited until the next one, and sure enough. . .dom, dom, dom, dom. . . "GEORGE!!!!!" We laughed until tears!!! One of the TWINS best players, Joe Mauer was up to bat, and Pat kept yelling "GO JOE!", Peter added his own touch and yelled "GO JOE . . . GEORGE!!!!!"
This game was held in MN's dome. . . very cool (literally) - air conditioned! BONUS! What I didn't know, was that since it IS a closed in area, the air gets sucked in, so when the doors open, a gust (for a smaller term for TORNADO!) of wind comes over you and pulls you right up and out of the stadium. Tim told me to hold on to Peter, and away we went. It kind of freaked him out at first, but once through, Peter said "Wow. . .that was FUN. . .let's do THAT again!!!"
Poor kid was able to keep his eye lids up until 11:00PM. . .what a trooper!

Vacation - Day 2

Tim and I had enough sleep to trail-through the following day, so we went to church with Auntie and Patrick. We dressed the boys up and got ready to go. Peter and James got to play in their (amazing) nursery. We listened to a wonderful sermon and had a lovely day at the Lord's house.

For lunch, we all went to Baker's Square (a MN must!!!!). Tim, of course, had breakfast, and boy was it good! We all got a piece of our favorite pie to go, and enjoyed it later that day, after the kiddo's went to bed for their Sunday nap. We enjoyed a nice, relaxing time of 'absolutely nothing' for the remainder of the day. My favorite part of vacation. . .quiet, peace. . .sleeping in!

Tim and I made a run for more baby food, and donuts! Yummmm.
We are all very really excited for Monday. . . going to go see the Twins at a home game!!!
So, stay tuned for some pictures and more fun stories, coming to a blog near you!

Vacation - Day 1

We left for our first family vacation on Saturday (well, 'family of 4', that is). We started our count down with Peter for 'macation' (as he calls it) a week in advance, to build up his excitement. So, when I woke him up early Saturday morning and told him that TODAY was vacation, he was confused and kept asking how many more days. He wanted a number to put with it, but eventually 'got it' when we loaded everyone up in the van and started moving.

We stopped in Huber for breakfast at 10:00 AM at Daddy and Peter's favorite place. . .McDonalds. And who did we run into, but Aunt Dee-Dee (Caralee)!!! It was super cool for Peter and James! Peter got to order his apple-dippers with her and we got to chat for a little bit until she had to leave for work. That was special.

After we filled our belly's with very wholesome, nutritional food (hee hee), we loaded up and were off for more 'macation'! We rented a conversion van and only had to stop ONCE for gas! And, considering how much $$ it took to actually FILL the this massive vehicle up, that was a blessing in disguise. We didn't need to stop until lunch, so we went to Hardees, which is a personal favorite of Tim's and mine. We don't eat there unless we're ON a vacation, so this was a special treat for the adults. We then headed across the street to McDonalds. I wanted my Carmel sundae and Peter wanted to play on their gym-set. After Peter went through the 3-story play set a couple times, we were back in the van until Wisconsin. There was a D.V.D player and large T.V. set in the van, so Peter got to watch Ice Age, Cars and the Veggie-Tales 'Jonah'. That was a special treat for him. Dinner was a little quicker, since we were so close to our destination. We stopped by a gas station that also had a Subway inside of it. We had coupons, so we got a nice dinner for cheap. Inside the station was a slide and a little ride for Peter to play on. It was a good stretch for all of our legs. We arrived at Pat & Catherine's around 11:15 that evening, woke the kids up and headed in for a good night's sleep. Peter was in shock the whole time, he didn't know where he was, and asked wasn't sure what was going on. "Is THIS macation??", he kept asking. "Yes, Peter, now go back to sleep. . PLEASE!!"

Both of the boys really did fantastic! We could not have had this go smoother. . .a 7 month-old and a 3 year-old in a van, for 13 hours? They did grreeat!

Small Detail . . .

Forgot to mention the BEST part of our trip going up to MN. . . James said 'Momma'!!!!!!!

Pete plays 'Mommy'

My little guy is starting to bite me while nursing. . .fun, fun, fun! (- insert sarcasm here-)
One day, Peter heard me tell James, "No, James, don't bite Mommy".
So, the next day, Peter saw me nursing him, and said to James, "Baby James, don't you bite Mommy. You don't want to hurt her. So, you can NOT bite her. That's not nice. You need to be a good boy. . .like ME!!!"
Who needs parents when you have a smart (but yet, bossy) toddler brother!?!?

Adjust'n James

So, since our little visit to the UR with James, we have had to have him sleep sitting 'up' in his car-seat ever time he goes to sleep. This will help any drainage that he may have in the middle of the night, and his breathing, to get better. So, here he is, trying to adjust to his new sleeping position. Since he is a BELLY ONLY sleeper, this was quit the adjustment for him. The first night was a little rough, but he made it through. I discovered, that if I give James a blanket to hold, he'll smoosh it in his face - mimicking his face pressed against his bed - and eventually fall asleep. I thought he looked silly, so I got some shots of him doing it. What a pitiful little guy!

This and That

Just some cute pictures of the kids, in their usual 'casual' state at home! :0)

Grandma 'Shapper' & James

Grandma 'Shapper' (Shaeffer) - as Peter calls her - came over the other day for her weekly 'James fix'. She thinks that Tim and I should have a thousand children. She sure loves her Grandkids!

Dee-Dee & James

This was just a favorite picture of Caralee & James that she took on her phone! Super cute!

Little Scares. . .BIG Grace

I had a sinus infection 2 weeks ago, went to the doctor and was put on 3 different medications/antibiotics to fight it. Well, as soon as my antibiotics ran out, and my infection was gone, I developed a nasty cough. After a few days of this, I went BACK to the doctor, only to find out that now I had BRONCHITIS! Aghhhh! When will this end??
No sooner did I start my new, stronger antibiotics, then James started a croupy cough. I noticed it only in the morning and before he went to bed. Yesterday was the worst I have seen him. He was coughing so hard and violently that his face was turning bright red, and almost a purplish color when he would choke. This was scaring Tim and I. I was still very much 'under the weather' and Pete was asleep. so Tim took James to Children's Urgent Care just before 10 PM last night.
The nurses and doctors looked him over and listened to his chest to see if he had bronchitis as well. Thank the Lord, he did not. He does have a nasty cough and congestion though. So, they sent him home with some saline and told us to get a mist humidifier to put in his room. He also has to sleep sitting up for a while. This is the only thing that is going to be hard for him. From the day he was born, he has loved sleeping on his belly. He has never cared for sleeping even on his back, let alone sitting up.
So, last night was our first 'trial' night with him sitting up. He did not care for it a bit, and Tim and I took turns going in there giving him his pacifier and calming him down, and finally had to just let him cry it out. Neither one of us could afford to loose much more sleep!
So, pray that this little monkey will sleep in his car seat well over the next couple days. And that this little cough will go away soon!
Thank you all!

Happy 6 Yrs. Together!

Tim and I celebrated our 6th year anniversary! Even though we are waiting to actually 'celebrate' it together, we are very grateful to have this wonderful occasion. Tim has truly changed my life, and we now sit and wonder. . .

"What did we DO without one another. . . .what did we DO without kids???"

"What did we used to TALK about on our dates?" - (besides the kids)

It's so hard imagining our lives without the other. Yet, we won't have to. Praise the Lord! He's stuck with me! :0)

We hope to celebrate 'us' together in Minnesota in 2 weeks, while we are on our family vacation! We will have 4-able sitters! Yea!!!!

My Little Goof

When we were at the park, James got ahold of his little turtle toy, that hangs from his pumpkin seat. I turned to see why he was so quiet all of a sudden, and found him like this. . .with the head of the turtle in his mouth! What a goof!

Happy Father's Day!

We went to first service, today, and Tim had nursery duty at Church. He loves being in the nursery at church! After church was over, we went to Champs to eat lunch. . .they had a special breakfast buffet, today, for Father's Day. It was super yummy!!! We exchanged cards with Tim's parents and talked about funny stories about Peter and James, and Tim, when he was a little guy. We had a wonderful time with them at the restaurant.
After our Sunday nap, Tim mowed the yard and then set-up Peter's whale-pool. Tim and Pete had such a fun time together!





Tim and Peter. . .what cute men!!!


Tim enjoyed himself so well that we are considering the purchase of a large pool with a slide. We definitely have the yard for it! :0)
Tim and Peter, then, had a nice and warm bubble bath, as I made them dinner. . .and then enjoyed a special dessert I made them (Banana Split Dessert!) Tim said it was the perfect end to HIS day!

A Night for Us

Tim had to work first shift on Friday, so as soon as he came home, it was off to Grandma & Grandpa's house for the kids!
We didn't have a 'curfew' so we decided to go out to eat, at a REAL restaurant . . .
and we even had enough time to see a REAL movie in a REAL theater!
It was a marvelous night! We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, Tim got a cheeseburger sandwich and I got the Chinese salad (both HUGE portions) and then we split a strawberry shortcake for dessert! Mmmmm! We got our theater tickets and then went to Books n' Company and just sat, in absolute quietness, and relaxed in front of a good book. As the time for the movie approached, we headed to the theater, and both of us got a snack (which was HALF of the price of the movie!!). We saw a comedy movie and laughed until we cried.
It was wonderful!
Thank you, Sweetie, for a lovely evening with you!!!

A Day at the Park!

Becky and her boys, and myself and my boys all went to a local nature park. It was awesome! We had a wonderful time!
It was a hot HOT day, so the waterfall and the brook was nice for the boys to cool off in. James even got in the water. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but after he got used to the water between his toes, he loved it! We were there for two hours and the boys had the best time ever, which made it fun for Becky and I too! I hope to do many more of these 'field trips' with Becky and the boys! What a fun day!

My Boys. . .how cute is this?

News: Peter is now standing up to go potty! Yea!!! I was SO not going to teach Peter that trick, so Daddy showed Pete and he's growing up to a little man so quickly. James can put his own pacifier in his mouth. He actually picks it up on his own and aims it right into his mouth. Yeah!
Embarrassing moment: Yesterday in church, Peter, Daddy and I were sitting in church listening to the sermon, and Peter turns to me and says "Mommy. . .", and then proceeded to pinch my bottom and said aloud "Tooshie Cheeks, tooshie cheeks!" Tim was no help in laughing, and I tried to keep a straight face long enough to let him know that this was something that we only do at home!!

Snap Shots

James. . . with his favorite toy-blankie, and with his favorite brother! :0)




My Sweetie-Pie
Oh, the joy this little guy brings to our lives, you wouldn't believe it! He has a favorite song now, it's an oldie- but a goodie! I don't know if any of you listen to oldies, but growing up, my dad always played them in the car. So, Caralee and I became very familiar with them! James LOVES the song 'Working in a Coal Mine'. At first, Tim thought that he just liked listening to me sing it, but then Tim started out singing "working in a coal mine, going down, down, down" and James' face lit-up like the fourth of July!

(To hear this song, copy and paste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2AjiSwBZoc)

Touch-A-Truck

We have now made it a family tradition to take the kids to 'Touch-A-Truck' day at a local park/school. Peter loved it so much last year, that we just had to go again! Plus, it was really close to our house this year, so that was a added bonus! Peter went right to the little talking school bus.

A lady was standing close by, talking into a head mic, with a voice box that changed her voice into this cute little sound. Peter was amazed by this. He didn't know that there was a lady talking through the bus and thought the bus was actually talking to HIM! On the way home he said "Mommy!!! Buster (the bus) knew my name!!!"


Then, it was off to the firetruck, Peter remembered to wear his firefighter hat too!



James even got into a little of the action, and he dressed appropriately with his new fire-truck shirt!

Testing out the buses. . .



Peter got to sit in a huge semi truck too. . .

Casually Cruis'n in a Police Cruiser. . .

Getting hands on experience with a bulldozer. . .


Peter was most intrigued by the big dump truck. The driver kept lifting and lowering the back so that the kids could watch, Peter was in awe! I told Tim, "I bet these guys don't think of their job as cool until a day like today. . .with all the kids just overwhelmed with these vehicles!"


Run, Peter, run!!!

The good ol' Cable T.V. truck. . .

Tim jokingly said that they should've called this event, "Touch A Horn Day" instead of "Touch A Truck Day", because ALL the kids did was blast the horns! You could hear this place from a mile away. Most of the workers had ear plugs, or were simply used to the noise, while others talked about bringing some next year! We had a marvelous time! And, as our new (2nd time. . .that counts as a tradition, right?) tradition begins, we (again) went to McDonalds afterwards for a hearty breakfast, and Peter got to play indoors. He was showing early signs of 'spoiledness' as we left. He began crying because we were leaving and he threw a fit because we weren't going back to see Buster the Bus. Well, I guess that means he REALLY did enjoy his time today! As did we!