Bath Time

Every night after dinner is bath time.  This summer, both kids have been especially filthy by 6pm, so a bath is necessary.  But even if it weren't, we'd still give them one.  They just have so much fun!  Otis splashes and chews on plastic fish, and Ingrid makes "magic potions" with her bubbles and some measuring cups.  She would sit for an hour if we'd let her, letting the water get cold and turning pruney and purple.  I got this picture of them tonight and it just made me so happy we decided to have another kid!

The Cottage

We had a lovely weekend at the cottage.  It was sunny and gorgeous, the kids were in good moods, Brendan and I were having a great time.  We went to parks, the beach, the backyard.  It was so quiet and peaceful.

Ingrid went on her first kayak ride!  She liked it okay, but was a little uncomfortable so the ride wasn't long.  Brendan will make a kayaker out of her before too long, though.

Otis had fun eating grass.

He started clapping this weekend!  Tried to get a video but of course the camera was kaput.  That stupid thing never works when you want it to!

Ingrid had fun doing all sorts of things, including play dough, swimming, and naked peanut butter and jelly eating. 

Last year we had to drive six or seven hours to get there, I am SO glad it's now a 45 minute drive!!

The Week Our Roof Got Redone

Ho boy, this week has been a doozy.  We have had roofers here all week, from 7:30am until sometimes 7pm.  Making noise, a huge mess, listening to the most god awful music at full blast. 

Monday we escaped and headed to the cottage for the day.  It was glorious.  The sun was shining, we went swimming, we ate lunch, we played at the park. 

Tuesday we signed up Ingrid for school (crossing fingers the wait list at our first choice school dwindles away to nothing so we get in soon!) then took a walk to the park.  Another sunny beautiful day we couldn't spend in our own backyard because there is a dumpster full of dangerous roofing materials there.  I stepped on a nail while going to throw the garbage out and am now deathly afraid of what will be left over after they leave...

Wednesday we met with friends at the park.  The kids ran around, the moms drank coffee.  Then we went to Target and spent a fortune and forgot the two things we had gone for.  How does that always happen??  We got new bedding for Ingrid's bed.  Target clearance section, how I love you.  A whole bed set for $30!  Not too shabby.

Yesterday was the best day of all.  We packed snacks and took a nice long walk.  There's a trail that goes along the lake but higher, so you look down on the beach and trees.  Then there's a cross back that goes down to the beach and a trail right by the lake.  It is a good hour long walk through nature and with awesome views of the lake and city.  I wish I'd had my camera, it was so sparkly yesterday!  Otis took a nap while we walked, Ingrid at a snack and just sat back and enjoyed the ride.  We ended up at the park, where we played happily until Ingrid got knocked on her ass...twice...because she walked right behind a girl on a swing.  How many times have I told her you have to walk around the swings?  And how many times has she gotten knocked down?  I felt bad, she really took a hit.  But she's tough, she just popped back up, cried a few tears, and went back to playing.  After the park we went to throw rocks in the water, and as I had my back turned to sit Otis down, Ingrid ran in the lake with all her clothes on.  Hmmm, guess we're going swimming today!  She took off her pants and shoes and just played in the water while I tried to get Otis to stop eating rocks and sand.  We just had the best morning, enjoying being outside, away from the noise, horrible grammar and swearing of the roofers. 

Today should be the last day.  Here's hoping.  And when we buy a house, if it needs a new roof, we're getting it done before we move in. 

Busy Weekend

Saturday was our block party.  I love that we live on a block where most of the neighbors know each other and they would go to so much trouble to set up a block party like this!  The neighborhood firefighters came with a huge ladder truck and handed out sticker badges, plastic fireman hats, and bracelets to all the kids.

They were supposed to have a bike decorating contest but I never did see that happen.  The kids had fun riding bikes in the street anyway.

One of the neighbors plays the guitar, so he set up and Ingrid another little girl danced their hearts out.

There was food, beer, chatting, getting to know the neighbors, and of course everyone commented on what a cute and mellow baby Otis is.  He's a hit wherever he goes.

Yesterday was, in my opinion, the best day EVER.  Brendan took the kids to Irish Fest for the whole day!  I was alone at home for hours and hours!  I cut out 24 bibs and have finished them all except for the Velcro.  It was so awesome to get so much done!  The reason I had 24 bibs cut out was for Art Vs. Craft, which I realized I haven't said anything about yet!  (I started an Applesauce Crafts blog so I posted there.)  It's my first craft show and I'm super excited about it!  It's the weekend after Thanksgiving and there are tons of people hungry for DIY gifts for Christmas!

Anyway, at Irish Fest, Brendan entered Otis in the Red Hair Contest.  Sadly, he did not win, but how funny!  Brendan used to get entered in the Freckle Contest when he was a kid! 

Living our Life

It's been pretty mellow around here lately.  Ingrid finished up her summer Montessori program.  The weather has been nice, not too hot.  Otis is growing and learning new things.  He loves cold carrots to chew on. They make him insanely happy.  His teeth have still not shown themselves.

He no longer needs the baby tub, thank god. I am all for getting rid of large plastic baby items!  He's also starting to wave.  It's adorable.

Pre-season football has started.  Unfortunately.  I hate football.  Brendan watches it all the time.  I am left with no TV and no husband.  Curses to you, NFL!  Although Ingrid looks pretty cute in her Packer's jersey...

She got a double bed this week!  A friend was giving their guest bed away to make room for baby #2, so we snatched it up.  Ingrid looks so small in her huge bed!  And how lucky of her to have all that room.  I didn't have any larger than a twin bed until I was 19!  A friend said she and her husband had a twin bed for a year after they moved in together!  And here is my little 3 year old, spread out in all the luxury.  Lucky lucky.

Oh Yeah, 8 Months Old!

He is nearly 20 pounds, and compared to a girl the same age today, he does not look small or like he came early.  His drool is astounding, he has ZERO teeth yet, and he just started to use his pincer grasp.  Which means teeny bits of avocado and cooked carrots! 

His biggest love is still his sister.  She can make him smile when no one else can, just by jumping up and down in front of him.  He likes to sit and chew on whatever is nearby, and is the best sleeper in the world.  I can put him down totally awake and he'll just smile and roll over and go to sleep.  I didn't think those babies existed!

Our Friends Are Pretty Nice.

Yesterday we got a big ol' box of goodies from our friend Lish.  This was my favorite item by far:

Scooters!  So cute!

Then today Ingrid went into her drawer and pulled out this gem that our friend Brooke got us on her trip to Jordan a couple years ago.  It finally fits her and she loved it.  She said "look, mom!  There's camouflages all over it!"

And then when going to dress Otis this morning, I pulled a random tshirt out and it happened to be this one from our friends in Germany.  They have a cute little tshirt shop and when I saw this I asked if they'd send one for us.  Super cute!

We are just so lucky to have great friends that share things with us.  They're pretty nice.

Family

This weekend my family came into town.  We stayed at the cottage and Ingrid got tons of cousin time.  We were joking that if we were the Duggars, we'd still be ten kids short!  Nine kids is plenty, thank you very much!
Otis had fun bathing in the sink.  Ingrid did this when she was a baby, too.  I just love sink baths!

Ingrid colored with her cousins.  They got along super well, and my nephew just loved Otis!  He was all over him! 

The reason we all got together was for my mom's birthday.  We had a little party for her at my brother's house, and I got this picture of her blowing out her candles.  With a lot of help from her grandkids!

We had a good time just hanging out, playing, swimming, going to the park, and being sleep deprived.  With all the beds the cottage had, for some reason there was always a scramble to figure out who was sleeping where!  Otis had no problems, though, even sleep deprived he was a happy kid.  And those are lipstick marks, not bruises.  Gramma has done this to all the grandkids!  I wish I had all the pictures of various babies with Gramma kisses all over them!

We ended up leaving a day early, though, since it was so overwhelming for Ingrid.  She was ready to get back to her house and sleep in her own bed.  Or was that me?  I love my family but there are so many of us, it's hard to spend too much time together! 

State Fair!

Yesterday we went to the Wisconsin State Fair.  I have never been there, in all my time living in Milwaukee!  It just never occured to me to go.  I don't care about cows and pigs, I get sick on carnival rides, and I don't really need to eat deep fried butter.  (Although deep fried oreos and smores sounded kind of tempting.)

But...with kids comes a change of heart.  Ingrid just loves carnivals, so we met up with friends and braved the crowds with our double stroller. 

We ate corn.

We posed at silly cutout things.

Ingrid kept talking the whole time about riding the tea cups.  Luckily, there were tea cups!

And rocket ships.

And a kiddie roller coaster, which she bravely went on.  She even raised her hands up a couple times!

And meanwhile, Otis sat in the stroller, took a nap, refused to nurse, and just chewed on his straps.  He's such a sweet kid.

Ah, Life

Life is good.  Otis is loving his room.  He seriously is just the most relaxed baby, he could care less where he sleeps, as long as he has room to stretch and a blanket to chew on.  A couple weeks ago I found this vintage mobile and was going to send it to Heather at 3RingCircus, but then Brendan said he wanted to keep it.  I'm glad we did, Otis loves it!

We have done a buncha hangin' out lately.  The weather got hot and sticky again and it just drains us of all motivation...

Ooh, another vintage thing we got:  these playing cards with a circus theme!  (They are from this etsy shop.)  I got some cheap frames from Joann Fabrics and put two to a frame.  I hung them up along the wall by Otis' crib, they look so cute! 

And one last random thing.  Today I was doing something in another room and came into the living room to find this:

Big sister wanted to put her baby brother in jail.  He actually didn't seem to mind too much!

Big Red Gets His Own Room.

The Fat Man just keeps getting bigger!  Last night he slept in his crib in his OWN ROOM!  For the first time ever, it's been almost 8 months of him being in our room.  It felt so strange to go into my room and turn on a light!  I read in bed!  It was awesome.

Otis really likes his crib.  We put up a vintage mobile and played some music for him, he has a nice fan blowing on him.  He slept just as well in his own room as he ever did in our room, hooray!  I was expecting it to be a hard transition, but he hasn't really noticed or cared that he's in a different room and different bed.  Honestly I have to think the crib is way more comfortable than that travel thing he was sleeping in...

Yesterday he wore another vintage thing that he will wear once before outgrowing it.  Dang it, he's just growing too fast!

He's sitting on our new chair.  I love this chair.  I just thrifted it a couple days ago.  It feels good to be able to thrift things again without having to worry about packing them up and moving them in a few months.  We are here to stay, folks!! 

My Girl

Ingrid just amazes me.  I love her.  Even with all the whining and craziness, she's my girl.  She definitely has her own personality and knows what she likes.  Take the heat--you'd think a kid without air conditioning would want to have as little clothing on as possible and have a fan on her while she sleeps.  Not this kid!  She saw some pjs I'd thrifted and immediately wanted to wear them, even though I'd gotten them for the fall.  When it's cooler.  And then she asked for socks.  And then she put her fleece blanket on.  And then she said she didn't want the fan in her room. 

Ugh, it makes me sweat just thinking about it...And those pjs on her Cabbage Patch Kid?  Those are Otis' preemie pjs!  They actually used to be big on him.  My how he's grown.

Ingrid's favorite thing to do now is to draw.  She goes through so much paper just making all kinds of little guys and telling herself a story as she draws.  I love it, it's when she's the easiest to deal with.

She is almost done with her summer Montessori program, which she's loved.  Hopefully we'll get into a K3 program.  If I ever get off my ass and figure out who to call to sign her up!  I keep thinking of it at odd times, like 6am or 9pm, never during the day when I could actually get a hold of someone!  Of course.

Why I Shouldn't Clean

The other day I went on a cleaning rampage.  I took everything that was piled up around our computer and put it away, supposedly where it belonged.  However, in the process, I ended up misplacing my battery charger for my camera.  It's nowhere!  Not in the junk drawer, not in the drawer with batteries, not in the camera bag, not in the drawer with phone chargers (where it usually is).  What the hell?? 

This is why I should never clean.  I would know exactly which pile my charger was in if I hadn't "organized."  Blah.