Saturday, July 13, 2013

Winter Wonderland part 2

Oops - just found this entry that never got posted (from late April/early May). 

Since our weather still feels like winter many days, I'll keep the same title...

In the interest of time and catching up, here are some highlights and pics:



  • Our baby is 3!  It's amazing how time flies.  Nate is almost 30 pounds and is just under 3' tall.  And you can probably tell from the pictures, but he is very animated.  He is much more varied in his emotions than Cameron and easily goes from one extreme to the other.  Which means for all the tantrums, there are also many cuddles, hugs, kisses, and other wonderful gestures from our lil' guy.





    This is what our yard looked like many times the last few months!


    At the zoo one of the few nice days we have had so far this cold, rainy spring.





  • Nate is potty trained (woo hoo!) and we will work on night training once Cameron's school year is done (and I won't have to rush around in the morning trying to get kids out of the house while cleaning up any accidents)
  • Cameron is reading many words on his own.  I realized this when we were at a gas station and all of a sudden he said, "Mom it's Stop and Go" (the name of the gas station).  Other than "stop" and "go", other words he reads are:
    • Zoo (his first read word)
    • Pizza (must be something with zs...)
    • Mom
    • Dad
    • To 
  • I took Cameron to his first stage performance - our local high school production of "Beauty and the Beast".  One of our babysitters performed in it so that made it extra special for Cameron to watch for her.  He did excellent considering it was almost 3 hours (though that include a much-needed intermission to use the restroom and have a quick snack).  He and Nathan really enjoy the Disney movies and had been watching Beauty and the Beast and singing along to the CD in the car for the weeks leading up to the performance so Cameron knew all the songs and was not scared by the beast, until after the show when Beast was in the lobby greeting willing kids.  It would have been an amazing photo, but Cameron was not interested in getting anywhere near the Beast!
  • Both boys are taking swim classes without a parent in the water and are in the same class.  One of the girls in their class does not listen and likes to splash the other kids.  Cameron is so adorable trying to keep his brother protected from her antics.
  • Both boys also enjoy helping in the kitchen.  They get to pour, measure, and mix and have fun doing it.  They are much more likely to eat foods they have helped prepared, even if it has vegetables in it they usually won't eat.  Cameron has gotten much better at eating a variety of vegetables, adding peas and red peppers to the list of vegetables he happily eats.  Nate, who has not typically been a picky eater, has become a little more discriminative in his tastes this past year.  He still loves his peas, but will not touch peppers.  The boys will actually "trade" foods sometimes - Cameron will give Nate his black beans or chickpeas (Nate LOVES legumes) and Nate will give Cameron his peppers.  Some general favorite foods in our household include:
    • Butternut squash (Cameron asks for it everytime he sees it in the store)
    • Pancakes (not sure if it's because they love them so much or because they always get to help make them and then sample them while they are cooking)
    • Quesadillas (black bean for Nate and red pepper for Cameron)
    • Polenta w/ homemade bolognese 
    • Cheesy grits
    • Homemade cast iron skillet pizza
    • Any fruit
    • Green smoothies (kale, kiwi, lime juice, lemon juice, apple, a few strawberries & blueberries, cinnamon and water - it sounds different, and it is, but it is full of goodness and the boys and I love it!)
      Cameron helping make risotto.  Notice the oven mitts - safety first!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Winter Wonderland

Harper Marie Andrus - always so smiley!
Once again I am playing catch up.  December was a busy month as usual, but this year we had the added bonus of a family trip to St. Louis to attend my (Kristi's) cousin's wedding.  Grandpa Brian, Grandma Linda, Aunt Kali, Uncle Tom and new cousin Harper all flew to Milwaukee where we had an early family Christmas.  Then on a Monday morning, we all got on a train to Chicago and from there transferred to a train to St. Louis.  Cameron watched the scenery go by almost the entire trip to Chicago - he was so fascinated!  Nate didn't sit quite as still, but he had so many different people to entertain him that he did well too.  It worked out really well to take the train - no worries about icy roads, the kids could move around all they wanted, use the bathrooms whenever, eat whenever, etc.

In St. Louis, we met up with my aunts and uncles and cousins and their kids.  On Tuesday, we visited the Italian neighborhood, "The Hill" and walked around and had some fantastic coffee.  We had lunch at an Italian restaurant downtown and tried the famous Fried Ravioli (so-so).  After lunch we went to the Arch where Aunt Kali and I took the boys up to the top of the Arch.  Given how wobbly the ride up was (think riding in a pod on a pulley system and you will get an idea of what it was like), I was impressed they didn't freak out.  Brave boys!  Then for dinner that night we tried some St. Louis style pizza.  Did not personally care for it as it had some nasty processed cheese on it.
Riding in the pod up the Arch with Aunt Kali

Outside the Arch
Trapped in an old bank vault at a coffee shop in St. Louis' The Hill neighborhood
The next day (12/12/12), Ryan's wedding was at the Botanical Gardens so we got to explore the grounds some.  It was seasonably warm that day (50s in the middle of December) and quite the beautiful setting. 
At Ryan's wedding









St. Nate with his reindeer & bag full of goodies!



Merry Christmas!
Cameron with Great Grandma at Xmas





The other major event for our family in December was Christmas.  As is our usual tradition, we spent Christmas Eve at Great Grandma Kruepke's house.  Cameron found himself a comfortable spot for the gift exchange - right in her lap!  This was an extra special memory for us as Great Grandma passed away in March so it was a blessing that she was healthy for Christmas and we all were able to create some more lasting memories.

Christmas morning was quite a treat.  I heard Cameron come out of his room around 7 so I quietly followed him and watched his reaction.  He saw the gifts from Santa under the tree (there were only 6 total, but they were set in front so it was obvious he had stopped at our house) and said "Whoa".  Then he went in by the stockings and saw some dinosaurs peeking out of the tops and said "Dinosaurs - best Christmas ever!"

Now I only have 4 more months of catch up!