see ya later, alligator!

Tomorrow we hit the road!

It feels like we've spent most of this week preparing for next week . . . well, ok, today mostly.  M-W I helped with Language Camps for school (which made me realize just how NOT ready to return to school I am as well as how unpleasant it is to have to get up early  in the mornings - although we did have a great time learning Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish at camp). 

Today I did lots of laundry, and packed up (what seems like) everything we own in preparation for one week of vacation.  We're heading up North to MN with the Hartsocks for a week of fun and relaxation at cabins by a lake.  I've made lots of lists and I hope we have everything we need for B - and that it all fits in our car! Traveling with a small child adds a lot to the packing list: pack and play, high chair, baby food/bottles/sippys, stroller, toys . . . whew! 

See you next week!

Shettler reunion

Braden (and Billy!) got to meet some extended family members this weekend at the Shettler family reunion.  The "Shettlers" are my dad's mom's (my grandma Elsie's) family.  We see my cousins/aunts/uncles quite a bit because we all live in the area (although my dad's parents have both passed away), but don't get to see my dad's cousins and their families as often - so it was fun to reconnect.

This is our "branch" of the Shettler family (my grandma's kids/grandkids/great grandkids) - at this point we were still missing Billy (we can't wait till he doesn't have to work weekends!) and are also missing my cousin Lance, Chloe, and their kids - Ben and Ellie.  

We spend Saturday on the Coe College campus, getting reacquainted, taking group/family photos as per reunion tradition . . .

 . . . enjoying the sunny day (2nd cousins Madi, Norah, and Braden) . . .

 . . . playing games - here Allie and I are battling against Aubree and Dennis in a game of Bags - we also had a bocce tournament and a lively game of whiffle ball. :) . . .

 . . . and just relaxing and visiting with one another.

Braden is very close to standing on his own, and likes to "walk" holding onto a helping hand.

Other traditional Shettler reunion events include a watermelon seed spitting competition . . .

. . . and the main event - the 18 foot banana split!  YUM-O!

Everyone grab a spoon . . .

 . . . and dig in! (don't worry about germs - we're all family! . . . although some participants like to designate their own personal portion into which no one else's spoon shall invade).

Although this picture doesn't show it well, B loved this activity, and was very upset when we cut him off after a few delicious bites.

Braden waves bye bye

We've been working a lot with Braden lately on "skills" such as sooooo big (and/or touchdown!), patty cake/clapping, signing "more" during meals, and waving bye bye.  He enjoys the interaction and laughs a lot while we practice, but hasn't really done any of these skills on his own yet . . .

BUT we're making progress on "bye bye!" :)  The other night he sort of waved his hand around with our prompting when bidding farewell to someone, but today he really did wave good-bye to Grandma Jane! She had stopped in to help me take measurements for fabric so that I can sew up a new curtain for our now green kitchen (yeah, just call me Becky!), and when she left she waved to B and said, bye bye!  . . . and he waved back!  

I took this little video right after that, as B was watching the world go by out our front door (a favorite past time of his!).  Sorry it is a little dark b/c of the sun shining in . . . and of course ignore the mommy voice.

sippy cup and s'mores

I'm pleased to report that Braden has recently become more willing to "embrace" the use of a sippy cup instead of his beloved bottle.  After finding out at his 9 month check up that he should/could ditch the bottle by his first b-day, I wasn't sure we'd be able to meet that goal . . . We still have a long way to go until the bottle is completely gone, but I was thrilled today when B drank a whole sippy cup without fussing for his bottle.

This weekend we (finally!) had a backyard barbeque and broke out the firepit for s'mores! 

It was a great evening for relaxing outdoors with friends . . . and the fire was nice on such a cool summer evening (who would have thought we'd all be in jeans and hoodies on an Iowa July night?!).

Braden and Auntie Allie

First fire of the summer!

Getting sleepy, but don't want to miss anything!

Yum - s'mores!

fun at the farm

Yesterday we went to Billy's parents' farm to see the border collie puppies. While Billy was getting a puppy for Braden to pet, B enjoyed their swing (just like his at home).

Af first Braden wasn't too sure about the puppy . . .

 . . . but then wanted to give it hugs and kisses!

Billy made lasagna for dinner last night . . .

 . . . and Braden liked it. . .

 . . . a lot.

this n that

Yesterday was B's 9 month checkup.  He willingly demonstrated his climbing, crawling, crying,  pulling up, and "talking" abilities to Dr. Miller. She said he is doing fine, and that by 1 year we can ditch both the bottle and baby food . . . which means we have a lot of work to do to get used to the sippy cup and introduce more table foods (also meaning I need to actually cook meals!).

Braden's 9 month stats:

height - 28 1/2 inches (60th percentile) 

weight - 18 pounds (15th percentile)

At 6 months he was 27 1/4 inches (80th perc.) and 16 pounds (20th perc.) - so he's growing, but is tall and skinny (we can't figure out where he got those genes!). He also has 8 (yes EIGHT) teeth now - 4 top and 4 bottom (he cut the last 2 this past week) - so is ready for corn on the cob. :)

It feels like summer is slipping away . . . perhaps because we've been having weird weather in Iowa. We've had lots of rainy or just grey days lately, which sort of spoil outdoor summer plans.  I was hoping to take Braden to the pool today (it's been a whole week!), but again, we woke up to a cool, cloudy day.  So I guess we'll find something else to do - the problem is that many of the things on my summer "to do" list (scrapbooking/digital photo organizing, reading, cleaning) are not easy accomplished while in the presence of an active 9 month old who is getting into everything!

My high school class celebrated our 15 year reunion on Friday night (wow are we old or what!  . . . as one person said, it will be fun to get together for our 20 year to see everyone again, but then we will be 38!!).  A few of us also met for lunch at the park so that we could see each other's kids and have some extra time to chat.  Surprise, surprise, it was raining and just poured while we ate in a shelter.  But the kids had a great time splashing in the puddles after the rainstorm passed:

They were completely drenched!

Braden was too little to join in on the fun (but I am sure he would have crawled right into the water if I'd let him) . . .

And here's the good old class of '94!  We had 20 class members attend (one came after the photo) out of 44 (and 2 of those were foreign exchange students who live in Venezuela) - so we felt like it was a pretty good turn out.  It was a lot of fun to see friends I don't normally run into, and to reminisce together.

9 month pictures

Picked up B's 9 month pics today!  

He's growing up too fast . . . 

(even more!) summer fun

When title-ing (is that a word - can I verb that?) recent posts (does anyone else find thinking up titles that are catchy - or at least not too dorky/boring - challenging?), I noticed that I have used several variations of the phrase "summer fun"  . . . which I suppose is a good thing - it means we are indeed having a lot of FUN this summer. 

My (yikes!!) 15 year high school class reunion is this weekend . . . and one of my best friends is home for the week to visit family and attend our reunion.  Yesterday she and I met a couple of our old college friends for lunch, and then last night our families had dinner together.  Here's her oldest daughter with B - it was fun to see them play together.

Braden's favorite past time is still pulling up/cruising around on things.  I'm so glad he has learned how to "gracefully" sit down from a standing position (vs. falling down and banging his head on the floor).

He's also really into his books lately . . .

 . . . and is starting to look at them rather than trying to eat them! I missed taking a picture of the scene, but last night he got all the books out, and we found him sitting in his book basket holding one book - so funny!

Tonight we headed out to cheer on the softball team.  B always has fun with his cousins at the games.

Notice that he is bundled up - it was cold (60's!) at the game - sure doesn't feel like July in Iowa (we're not complaining!)  . . . but we are hoping for some warm/sunny weather tomorrow so we can meet friends at the pool. 

Braden also had fun stealing Grandpa's hat . . .

It's hard to believe that we've already reached the halfway point of summer vacation! :( We'll just keep enjoying each day that we have left.

9 months

Another month down!  (Sniff . . . have I said before that my baby is growing up way too fast?!) 

At 9 months Braden:

• has 6 teeth and is learning to bite/chew food

• loves to try "real" food off our plates (french fries, pizza, bread, and cheese are favorites)

• "talks" a lot -- the only real words so far are mama and dada (more like mamamamama and dadadada - and we're not sure that he is referring to us specifically yet), but he is staring to add inflections and more "phrases" to his vocabulary of babbles

• loves to crawl up steps and will make a break for them if we don't have the baby gate up

• is enthralled with mirrors

• wears size 2-3 diapers and clothes ranging from 6-12 month sizes

• loves to go swimming and has no fear of water; we try to get to the pool a couple of times each week

• can stand/balance by holding onto something with only one hand

And here's the monthly outfit pics:

3 months

6 months

8 months

9 months (yes, I bribed him with a bottle to stay still!) . . . his little legs that are pale on the top and tan on the bottom make me smile - he has tan lines from spending so much time at the pool.  . . look how pale he was at 3 and 6 months.

 . . . but after a couple of shots he was off to find something more interesting to do!