From Favorites

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From Favorites

Yes my mom put me in a bucket!

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From Favorites

From Favorites

What an awesome week we've had! Hayden has been excellent and just a joy to be around. He is so witty and full of life, if only we could all be like him. Carson too has been a great baby all week. Sleeping 3 nights through the night and just being smiley and happy.
We have been trying to stay upbeat about this whole sucky weather thing...I want a beach day! But 73 is warm enough to be outside having fun. On Saturday we went with my mom and dad on a giant outing! We had pizza and went to the Blueberry Festival in Iron River and Jason came with! Hayden rode on the "old school" rides and had blast. We minnow raced(Brandon won), ate Cotton Candy(the good stuff, not flavored!) and got rained on just a little bit. Then it was off to Hayward for some Famous Dave's and Hayden was lucky enough to have Papa Moe take him to throw rocks in the water...1 of Hayden's favorite pasttimes. After that we headed to Chetek for a drive in movie! SO cool! They play family movies so we saw Ice Age 3 and part of Harry Potter 6. The drive between Hayward and Chetek is beautiful with rolling green hills, farms and gorgeous lakes, that sparkled as we flew by them(we were running late!) I definitely want to drive through that area again soon. Sunday we had a private burial for Jason's grandpa and then Hayden went with Papa and Smith for the night and next day. On Tuesday we went to a hotel by cousin manages and swam and went down the waterslide. Carson even went in the warm kiddie pool and loved it. He didn't complain the whole time we were there. We had fun and enjoyed the time with Angie and her clan. Wednesday Hayden raced and did awesome he did is 1/8 mile(I think!) in 1 min 27 secs. He ran hard and had a huge smile on his face the whole time! We also primed the shed as a family and got it done, now to paint it! Thursday we invited Jacob to spend the day with us and we went to the Fire Museum down the block from us with my dad and Brandon. The boys had fun climbing on the fire truck and playing in the jail. Hayden let me explain things to him and seemed eager to learn about things he didn't know. We went bowling with my mom and Brandon after that and had lots of fun as we all are pretty competitive! Hayden had lots of fun and was so funny when his ball would go in the gutter-which was just about everytime the first game, we then hooked him up with his own lane with bumpers.
We've been busy, whew! But thats what summers are all about!

See post below for pics!

Hayden had his first Wednesday night at the races today...but it was cancelled! Oh well he got a ribbon and it was green. I made him(it wasn't hard) run around the track to earn it though. I can't believe its already this time of the year again, I didn't realize it was coming up, so he hasn't practiced..not that he had in the past, but he always talks about going to practice at UWS so I thought I would take him! He has been so great lately, he truly loves his little brother and does so well with him. Jason takes him golfing about once a week and he is getting good, and loves it! Last week he made a chip shot from off the green into the hole, his dad was very impressed. He also was able to go to a Husky's game with Nana and Papa on Saturday. He was bouncing in the giant Husky and was playing tag and told me he made a friend, but didn't ask what his name was or where he lived. Apparently those are the things you need to know if you make friends with someone. Jason and I have decided not to enroll him in Pre-K. I really don't believe he needs to go and I don't believe that its the school districts responsibly to take care of my child for free when I am capable. Jason and I both never really attended Preschool and we turned out just fine! He is such a smart boy and will hopefully get all the social interactions with football, basketball, soccer and Tball before he starts kindergarten next fall. I really don't think there is anything wrong with preschool but its not for him. I'll make a completely separate decision when its time for Carson.
We are thinking about going to the cities next week to look at houses, go the the Children's Museum, Babies R Us(even though I get flustered there!), waterpark, and a few other things. But haven't decided. We have stuff that needs to get done around the house but Jason needs a vacation, even if its just a couple of days. The boy has been working his hinney off--as usual. I haven't uploaded pictures on my computer all week, hopefully tomorrow! I only sit down at the computer when I am nursing Carson or he is asleep and forget to grab it!

I am curious....
What is your favorite baby invention?
Based on my 2 lovely boys I am thinking the pacifier!
Hayden and Carson with their buffy's!
Keep reading I added a few posts today!

Carson's appointment went great today, he was so great. He got to be naked and have heated blankets all over him...he couldn't ask for better! His hips look fine, just uneven rolls apparently oh well this kid has kept us on our toes is whole existence with the Spinda Bifida scare and this! I am sure there will be more to come too!
He is such a great baby! I know i say that constantly but its so true. He is such a talked and his 4 dimpled smile can melt any one's heart!
Hayden has been a hoot lately as usual. He has made up his own language and will point things out to us in the car and make up a name for it. Like koochakingalala. He knows how to make us laugh just like his daddy!
Jason was in a wedding this weekend. I have come to the conclusion that being the spouse of a bridal party person sucks. I'll just leave it at that!
Jason also is working a ton lately...but the good news is, his store is doing the best its ever done! I know the owner is liking that too! All his numbers are coming up great.
I don't miss working-at all. Last summer I was itching to get back and missed it so much. Totally not having that problem this summer!
I will try to update tomorrow or Thursday with our hopeful lineup of more summer adventures!

Some Pictures of my cuties...and Jason!

Still using Manual! Well most of the time!

I had to change my header to add baby Carson! We've been blessed with great weather and we've been taking full advantage of it! Picnics, walks, going to the park, and golf(of course!) We've been to a few birthday parties(Happy Birthday Lisa and Callie!), storytime, and just seem to fall into a great summer rhythm! Tomorrow we are going to the $3 movie and I hope to get to a Husky's game this week. Jason is in a wedding this weekend so there is lots of stuff going on around that too! I have been seriously playing with my camera! I have been shooting more and more in manual and actually figuring it out! I have been happy with my results, the color pops so much more, and thats what I love! I decided I really want to become a reviewer, but of course have no idea how, when, where to! So I am going to either start blogging on here or start a new review blog. If you have something you want me to try let me know! I am going to do a wide variety, I hope!! I also have a photoblog...did you know that??? I hope to utilize it more and will be posting pics there too! Check it out!

Happy Birthday Carson! You are 2 months old!

We are so blessed to have you in our lives. You are the sweetest, happiest baby. You have really found your voice and talk to us all the time. You can make all sorts of sounds that almost imitate the sounds we are making. You smile all the time and we love to see those 4 dimples of yours. You have travelled a bunch this month staying 8 nights in hotels. You actually slept better in the hotels then you do at home! You usually go 5 hours the first stretch of the night... Mommy will take it! You eat and go right back to sleep, usually in Mommy's arms.

Your brother loves you more and more each day and loves to make you smile. He also reports back to Mommy with each noise you make. He does not like when you cry and puts his hands on his ears and says "make it stop" We try!

You like one particular Buffy, the one the hospital gave us, you still like to be swaddled and you like a blanket touching your head when you fall asleep-just like mommy. You fall asleep and stay asleep each time you ride in your car seat. You love to be outside, just like Daddy and Hayden. You are a great nurser still and eat just about every 3 hours on the dot. You like your butterflies on your playgym and smile and talk to them you also are starting to like rattles and you fall them with your eyes.

Mum Moe told us your eyes are the colors of Blueberries...which is right on the dot for the color. We've since been calling you Baby Blueberry or Blueberry Eyes, among lots of other nicknames we have for you.

You weight exactly 11 pounds and our 22.5 inches long. You are perfectly average as Dr. Maria said. You need to go get your hips ultrasound(ed) on the 20th because they don't line up right. You had shots today and screamed harder than you did at birth, Mommy was very sad for you.

We love you lots! Lets see what Month 3 will bring us!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July. Its hard to believe its already July. Hopefully we'll actually have some summer weather from here on out. We had a wonderful time in Brainerd. Hayden LOVED the waterpark. He has been going here since he was 6 months old and now he is able to go on all the waterslides alone. He is getting so big! He of course loves it and thinks its great he is so big and can do more things by alone. I won on a silent auction another 2 rounds of 18 holes at the Legacy(Jason golfed there last week and of course loved golfing on a 5 star course!) So we will be going back up there sometime this summer and why daddy is golfing I am thinking we will do the waterpark, Hayden had that much fun! Carson was fashionable at the waterpark sporting his swimtrunks and rash guard while sleeping in his carseat!
We were able to enjoy at Craguns once the weather was super nice a day at the outdoor pool. Hayden was in heaven and Mommy wasn't complaining about sitting out in the sun. We also went on a Pontoon ride that day. We've be going to Cragun's since the summer before my junior year so 2000...it may be time to try another resort like Madden's or Breezy Point. We encountered a few issues before and during our stay. Like their website has had issues forever and they don't seem to fix it. But we will still go back to Cragun's because they have great employees like Brad who works at the Marina(he some how always ends up on our boat...) and Kate who works for the activities department. Their reservation manager doesn't seem to have a clue about well anything which is sad because Cragun's is a great place and some place we've enjoyed for years. I hope too that they will fix the hot tubs(2 were closed one is in need of paint) and get their customer care back in shape.
Hayden was able to go to Camp Cragun's for the first time this year. They played in the Sports Centre, decorated shirts, and made sand art. Plus we figured 9 bucks is worth all the missed tears that we would of encountered when Jason went golfing.
We also were able to visit Molly, Dennis and Louise for a little while over lunch. Its always good to see them and Dennis is always a hoot!
Hayden missed his Daddy terribly...until the waterpark!
Carson is such a trooper and great little guy still. I can't believe he is such a good traveler and doesn't mind being dragged all around!
We were able to celebrate the 4th on the 3rd in Nisswa and Crosslake. We went to a parade, where I've never seen so many people lined up and down the streets. And fireworks in Crosslake, which were kind of a disappointment because we couldn't see much(even though we sat right were the website told us to and where we sat prior.) On the 4th we went to downtown Brainerd to see their festival thing. People in Brainerd take parades very seriously. At noon people had empty chairs and tape marking off their spots the parade didn't start until 4. Reserved parking is $25 and is on sale in April. It was quite humorous. They had free corn feed that we finally made our way to and had yummy sandwiches. Carson got a little cranky and hot so I trekked back to the Tahoe with him while Hayden and Brandon played(I think!).
It was a great week with activities and relaxing, couldn't ask for better!

We are having lots of fun at Craguns! The weather has been so-so. But today its suppose to be warm and windy free! We sadly had to say goodbye to Daddy on Tuesday evening, we miss him and we had lots of fun with him. But we wanted to stay with Nana and Papa to have more fun. We've swam, built fires, roasted marshmallows, played baseball, golfed, trolley rides, boat rides, fishing, animal show, juggling show, turtle races, and more! Hayden is having so much fun he loves going to the park and playing baseball. Carson is awesome! He is enjoying watching the trees blow in the wind and getting lots of attention! Here are a few pictures from our stay so far!