Swimming at Baby Hannah's House

Last week, the kids and I (along with Lindsey) road-tripped to the Casey's house to spend a few days. Liz, Lindsey, and I orginally planned this trip as a scrapbooking party... and we did scrapbook (a little)! We also made a few small shopping trips, took a walk to the park, made home-made pizzas (yummy!), and swam in Hannah's little pool. It was very relaxing and we all had a great time!

Hannah & Kinnick (unfortunately it was a little cold for them!)

Sadie's Rainbow

Last weekend, our town hosted "Relay for Life." Marc has helped do the accounting for the last three years now. They always have it in our city park and it's fun to walk around, eat dinner, and watch the opening ceremony. Unfortunately this year they had to move it into one of our schools b/c of the threat of rain (and good thing, b/c it rained!) I braved the storm with the kids and we went to meet Marc for dinner. When we were leaving to come home, the rain had stopped and there was a beautiful rainbow. This was the first time Sadie had seen a "real" rainbow! She was very excited...

She is showing Kinnick where the rainbow is...

This pic is kind of far away, but she started jumping up to try and "touch" the rainbow! It was hilarious. She jumped so many times and finally said "I can't get it, Mommy."

Today when we reading her Noah's Ark book, she was very excited to see the rainbow at the end. "I saw a rainbow!"

Happy Father's Day

...to the BEST Dad ever! We Love You!

Precious

Kinnick--6 Months

I can't believe how much my little guy is growing and changing... I would best describe him as a "non-stop ball of energy". I can't believe how he is constantly kicking, rolling, scooting, grabbing, etc. He continues to be extremely laid back and happy. This picture was taken first thing in the morning when I went to get him out of his crib. He wakes up happy and stays that way for most of the day! We enjoy his constant smiles and laughs. I love hearing Sadie say "He's crackin' up at me!" and it's usually true--he just adores his big sister. For the most part she's very good to him. She loves to read stories to him and sing "Jesus Loves Kinnick".

The food situation is going much better! He's really started eating a lot more and we haven't had any gagging/throwing up incidents for a few days! He's still not a big fan of peas or carrots, but he tolerates them. He LOVES squash. We're trying some sweet potatoes tonight... Yesterday he had his first biter biscuit--what a lovely mess! Today he had tried some little puff cereal for the first time. He actually did better than I thought at getting them into his mouth!

It amazes me how fast he can get around... In just a few minutes he backed himself under this ottoman and just looked up at as grinning as always.

Sitting up... almost! He can sit for a few minutes at a time supported on his hands.

Crawling... almost! He loves getting up onto his hands and knees. He hasn't quite figured out the crawling movements but he thrusts himself across a room very quickly! (It's hard to tell in these pics, but his hair has lightened up quite a bit.)

At Kinnick's 6-mo check-up (1 week ago) he weighed 12 lbs. 11 oz. and was 25 inches long. He was VERY small for his age (he wasn't on the chart). Our Dr. was delivering a baby so we saw the nurse practitioner. She said he looks very healthy and as long as he continues to gain weight, no need to worry. She commented on how active he was and said that is probably part of the reason. (Same thing our Dr. said at his 4 mo. check-up.) I go back for my apt. next week so Kinnick will go with for a weight check with our regular Dr.

Solid Food

First taste of rice cereal!

I was originally planning on waiting until after Kinnick's 6 mo. check-up to start him on solid food. His check-up was scheduled for a few days after he turned 6 mo. However, 2 weeks before his check-up he started to get fussy when he would finish nursing, he began waking up an hour/two hours earlier than normal in the morning, and he would watch us like a hawk whenever we were eating--trying to grab anything and put it in his mouth. I figured he was probably ready.

I wasn't really prepared to make baby food yet and I had no baby cereal yet. We put both kids in the stroller and walked to Wal-Greens to buy one box of rice cereal and I let him try it. He was SUPER excited to see the bowl of food and the spoon, but he kept spitting it out. I determined that he wasn't ready or didn't like rice cereal. (Sadie GOBBLED anything and everything when she first started eating food!)

I took a break for 2 days and he continued to exhibit the previously mentioned ready signs so I decided to give it another try. This time I made rice cereal and squashed up a banana. He again spit out the cereal but LOVED the banana (so I mixed them together). The only veggies I had on hand to make were peas and carrots so I made the peas first. He wasn't thrilled with the peas, but ate them.

Next--the carrots... Oh my! Like I mentioned, Sadie never refused a food, she loved everything, I guess I wasn't prepared for a picky eater. Kinnick made the worst faces when I tried carrots. He didn't want to swallow them so he held them in his mouth. Then the gagging started. He made himself gag so much that he projectile vomited all of the milk he had just had. After 3 episodes of this, I decided we could try the carrots again later.

Well, after carrots, he decided he felt similarly about peas also. We had throwing-up episodes a few more times, but I kept trying the veggies and he is now at a point where he will eat them--yeah! The cereal, I still mix in with his fruit, b/c he's not a fan but he definitely needs the extra calories. So far we've tried... rice/oatmeal/whole wheat cereal, bananas, pears, peaches, applesauce, peas, carrots, and squash. Next on the agenda--plums and sweet potatoes! He LOVES the fruit, and tolerates everything else. We've also stared some juice in a sippey and he's doing pretty well with that.

"I See You!"

We knew that when we moved Sadie to her bedroom downstairs this was coming...

The living room is right outside of her bedroom so sometimes she gets curious. She usually does it when she wakes up from nap or in the morning, but she also does it at bedtime--especially if she thinks she's missing out!

First we see a pink blanket, followed by one little eye and a mouth sucking on a paci. Next we see one or two hands sticking out. We can't help but smile when she does this. Sometimes she also tries to talk to us. She often thinks she will get better results by saying "Stina" instead of Mommy...

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

This is a new favorite recipe of mine! The Knopps shared it with us awhile ago and I enjoy making it when we have company. These are SUPER easy to make. I can't promise that it's healthy... but I can promise that it's delicious!

• 1 pkg. of Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls (they come in a 12 pack w/ icing included--freezer section; I've also used Pillsbury)
• 3/4 c. vanilla ice cream
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 stick of butter

Boil last four ingredients for 1 minute and pour over frozen cinnamon rolls. Put into your oven and leave overnight. When you wake up, turn the oven on to 350 and bake for 25--30 minutes. Top with the icing and ENJOY! (They are super ooey gooey!)

I've also made half of the recipe and just made 6 rolls at a time...

Swing Rides

A few weeks ago we walked to the park and Kinnick enjoyed his first swing ride. Sadie was super excited to swing with him...

He LOVED it! He kept smiling and laughing.

Since this he's enjoyed many swing rides. His babysitter has a swing set in her back yard with a baby swing and all of the kids love to push Kinnick in the swing. (They spend A LOT of time outside every day!)