What is this!!!?!??!?
Dane is a compulsive fist eater. I've encouraged his paci but he's not really in to it nor good at it. He usually doesn't keep it in his mouth unless he's falling asleep. He insists on chewing on that fist. I've suspected him of wanting to be a thumb sucker so whenever that thumb finds its way in to his mouth I run for the paci, only because I'm pretty sure breaking him of a paci will be easier than his thumb. The other day during his nap I found this...Oh my gosh he's so cute!

Remodel - End of Week 4

We are having a drain system installed. In case any water comes into the basement this drain system will take care of it. Therefore, the downstairs had to be completely torn out.

Garage, front gable and front porch are framed!

You can see where the front door used to be - they brought it out to the front of the house. A window is going to go there, but they haven't come in yet. Then Zach will fill it in with brick and brown county stone (what is on the corners of the house).

Our friends had a birthday party for their kids this weekend. It was super hot (95ish with the good ol midwest humidity) but lots of fun to visit with them and some other friends. They had pools and a slip n slide for the kids so they had an absolute blast. At one point Will asked me to push him on the swing set. So we walked over to the swing and as I was putting Will on it I noticed that the little boy who was swinging on the next swing was in the middle of getting in trouble from his Mom. ...so here we were intruding on the situation. Awkward! I tried to ignore what was going on and pretend we weren't hearing any of it as I pushed Will on the swing. I'm not sure what the little boy was doing but his Mom was saying "That is NOT a nice way to behave! You do NOT act that way!" He was clearly not feeling any guilt and his Mom was growing more frustrated by the second. After a few more corrective comments she said "Do you understand me?" No response. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" All of a sudden Will happily chimes in "I understand you!" Silence. Will says louder "I understand you!!!!"

Thank goodness she had a sense of humor about it and looked over and said she was glad Will understood her.

Dane and Momma

Dane is bored with the blogging.

End of Week 3

During week 3 they poured some new concrete and did a lot of the framing on the inside.

Front porch is poured.
New garage is poured.

1/2 wall in living room is framed.

1/2 bath is framed and the new window.

Pantry in kitchen is framed and french doors will be just past the pantry.

View from kitchen-to-be.

New Master Suite.

We are putting in a new window in the master bedroom and they framed it.

They started on the stairs going down.

Luke and Chuck Arrive!

The Michigan trip ended well. Luke and Chuck arrived on Friday night. We had a great - and busy - day on Saturday. Luke and Chuck took down a hemlock that had died, Luke helped Gerry with some projects, we hit the beach, took naps, had Gerry's signature sidecars and ended the day with Bortels. mmmhmmm!

Dane hanging out.
Dane with his toes in the sand for the first time!

hmmmm, poor unsuspecting Will.

I can't BELIEVE Will went for this!

Poor Will... (disclaimer: it was on like a hat but it fell just as I was taking the picture:)

Will took this picture!!

Will feeding his baby brother - sweet boys!
Dane napping in the wind/sun tent - life is rough.

Will came into the room the other day and said "I'm a hard workin' man."

The Yellow Birthday Balloon Part II...

Those pilots at Ryan International are pretty darn talented! While Aunt Terri was busy flying the plane and retrieving Will's runaway birthday balloon, another pilot apparently was able to capture it in a picture! Terri sent this picture to Will and if you look closely you can actually see Aunt Terri grabbing the balloon! Way to go Terri!!!!!

Michigan Fun!

Dane's first bath in the sink in Michigan.
Deer watching...

Deer watching without clothes...

Peeing off the back deck makes potty training more fun!

End of 2nd Week

This week was all about adding support to the house. Ceilings came down and beams were added. The foundation for the new garage was poured.

New support beams in the new living room. New support beam in the new dining room.

The studs will come down and the hole where the old steps were will be covered and this will be our master bedroom.

French doors are framed in.

New support beams in the hallway/1/2 bath area.

Dane is 3 months!

Yesterday Dane turned 3 months! It's so hard to believe. It's funny how life with kids works. Maybe it's just me, but when Will was an infant I, of course, loved him and thought he was the cutest thing ever, but I couldn't wait until he was just a little bit older. In hindsight I know it was because I wasn't used to fully caring for another person, aka: being a Mommy. I couldn't wait until he could sit up, then crawl, then walk. I couldn't wait until he had a little independence. I felt busy, overwhelmed at times. Now with Dane, I wish this time would slow down! I can not believe he's 3 months already! I feel like I just found out I was pregnant. I wish I had all the time in the world to snuggle him, to watch him make those adorable facial expressions, to watch him learn how to use his hands, to talk to him and fully enjoy this time in his little life. He is just so precious. But, of course (and this is the "funny" part) now I don't have that time. I look back and wonder what did I do with all of my time when I just had one baby? I guess in my spare time with Will I was adjusting to being a Mom. Now I'm adjusted and I'm grateful. I'm so grateful for these two miracles. We are so fortunate that we have two healthy precious children. I'm counting my blessings and I'm VERY grateful.

So back to Dane. He is all of a sudden changing a lot. He is beginning to play with toys. He focuses on something and will try to reach for it. He will grab on to a toy and bring it to his mouth. (let the fun begin with my OCD and a baby putting everything in his mouth!) He is cooing, happy, smiling, and occasionally laughing. He is taking in the world around him studying everything now that he can see better. (I read he can now see up to 20 feet) He is a big boy! At 2 1/2 months he was 24" and 14 lbs 7 oz. I'm guessing he's pushing 15 lbs at 3 months. I'm still pumping and bottle feeding him. It's working well - it's all what you get used to. I'm 1/2 way to my goal of 6 months (how long I breastfed Will) and I've been able to get quite a stock of milk in the freezer that will allow me to give him breast milk long after I stop producing it. I have to admit it will be nice when I don't have to plan my pumpings when going anywhere and travel with the (big) pump, pump parts, bags for dirty parts, bottles, etc, but I'm rolling with it and reminding myself that I'm so fortunate to have the pump in the first place, that I'm able to provide breast milk for my baby, and that he's doing so well. And I know this stage will be over in a flash and I will, in a way, miss it all once it is. Dane is practicing standing up - he is supporting his weight on those chunky little legs. He has rolls that I don't remember Will having. He is still getting up around 2-3 am for about an hour to nurse and then he gets up around 5 and comes to bed with me. He is a pretty good sleeper. He continues to be the sweetest baby!

Trying out his Bumbo for the first time - he doesn't like it very much. I think once his head is a little more stable he will.

Learning how to play with toys!

Dane relaxing on the beach

Nana and Dane.

Momma and her boys
Dane's first dip in the lake! He loved it!
Blurry, but you get the point.

Ahhhhh!!

I am so excited and happy to finally be back up in Michigan! I haven't been up here since last Thanksgiving - a record I believe. A record that I'm not looking to beat again any time soon. The boys were so good on the trip up. Will did great with the potty training and told us when he needed to go and we would pull over. I am so proud of him. We got up here yesterday around 1:30 and only made 9 stops in 7 hours... I'm not kidding. And really not that bad for a trip that takes two adults with normal bladders 6 hours. Once we finally arrived my mom and I were in all our glory as we puttered around getting unpacked, opening up the cottage and getting everything settled. We were all tired last night and anxious to get some sleep. Everyone did well - Dane didn't like his bed so he ended up sleeping with me from about 2 on. I think he misses his memory foam bed at home (I know, I know) so I will make his bed a little bit softer today in hopes that he'll do better tonight. (why people think a baby is going to enjoy sleeping on a hard surface is still beyond me) Yesterday the water was so warm - in fact the neighbor Kris said that in her 20 years of coming up here she has never felt it as warm as it was yesterday. It was so warm you could walk in without even adjusting. Dane even got in! I sat with him in the surf and we enjoyed the water and waves. He loved it! Will of course loved it too and was swimming around like a little fish.
The wind blowing through the trees up here is one of my all time favorite sounds and last night did not disappoint. My heart is so happy up here. I only wish it wasn't so far away.

Preparing Myself

When Will was born I quickly shed the baby weight and at 5 weeks post partum I was wearing a bikini and only mildly self-conscious. This time is a little different. 2nd baby, twice the sweet tooth I guess? I'm only about 4 pounds from my pre-baby weight, but oh the body is so different! I would not be caught dead in a bikini right now. I'm not sure if it's the sweet tooth that is still raging or the sit ups I haven't been doing but something has got to change. Recently I have begun to entertain the idea of shaping up and eating right. Lord knows I'm running around enough to equal some type of light workout each day. But apparently I'm eating enough to counteract my activity level. I constantly crave (and eat) sweets. Brownies, ice cream, candy, oatmeal creme pies, even cool whip! Arby's is my new favorite and I've recently rediscovered their jamocah shakes. It's out of control I know, but I just really enjoy being able to eat whatever I want. I love eating that dessert and not feeling guilty about it. Also looming is the reality that when I stop nursing I'm going to have to cut down my daily intake by 500 calories a day, which is apparently what I'm burning just by nursing Dane! I don't know if I'm going to have to quit cold turkey like an addict or what but I'm getting close to making the change. At least I'm considering it, which is more than I can say for the past 3 months.

My baby boy is 12 weeks old today! So hard to believe. He is the sweetest baby ever and I am crazy in love with him.

Potty Training 101

That's right! As if we didn't have enough going on these days Will has decided he's ready to entertain the idea of potty training! Last night after dinner I went to change his diaper and he had some pretty bad diaper rash. I told him if he would just wear big boy underwear he wouldn't get diaper rash anymore. He of course said NO and I'm not sure what got into me but I decided to wrestle him to the ground to get those puppies on him. Once he had them on he decided he liked them and started racing around the house like a banshee. A while later he went to the shower and peed! We were so excited! Luke took him into the bathroom and somehow got him to actually pee in the potty!! He has had a few accidents and we flip flop between big boy underwear and pull-ups. Today when we were leaving Menards he said he had to go. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal to go in the parking lot so I shielded him with car doors and the stroller and he went! I was so proud of him. He also sat on the potty tonight. No pooping yet, but he finally sat down and we are talking big steps there. Luke and I made his Potty Chart for him. Every time he goes potty he gets to put a sticker in the box for that day. When he gets 5 stickers in a box he gets to pick out some candy from the candy jar. Today when he got to 5 I gave him a bowl with some M&Ms in it. He finished them and said he wanted more. I explained that he had to get 5 more stickers in the box to get more candy and he promptly decided he needed to pee again. (he went a few drops:)

I don't mean to sound like we're not excited when I say "as if we don't have enough going on already" I just don't think I have ever been this busy in my life. We are so proud of Will and as we knew he would, he has decided to tackle this when he was good and ready.

Last night he had an accident in his underwear before bed and that really irritated his diaper rash. He was so tired from our long weekend and upset about his diaper rash he was really having a hard time. So I put a diaper on him for the night and Luke and I were putting him to bed. He was so upset that we told him he could skip brushing his teeth for one night and just go to bed. He kept crying and when we put him in bed, through his tears, he cried out that now his teeth were going to fall out. I guess maybe I shouldn't have used that line when trying to get him to cooperate during tooth-brushing time. :) I did go and get the baby toothpaste that you can swallow and brushed them for him in bed so he could sleep well knowing his teeth would still be there in the morning.

House Remodel Week 1

This was the old kitchen (a galley kitchen). The new kitchen will be where I was standing when I took the picture.

They dug the new stairs!

And here is the massive dirt pile from digging the stairs. The guys told us they could move it into Will's new room for him. He of course thought thought that sounded like a grand idea.

Living room to be.They started putting the stone on the corners of the house.

The Yellow Birthday Balloon

At Will's birthday party I had tied a bunch of balloons on the fence around the pool. As Luke was taking them down, one of them escaped. Will looked on as his his yellow balloon floated higher and higher up in the sky and eventually, out of sight. Sweet Aunt Terri told him that on her next flight she would find the balloon, roll down the window on the plane and get it for him. Over a week later, the next time we saw her, the first thing he asked her was "did you get my balloon?" Ok, who would have thought a 3 year old would remember about the darn balloon!? Fortunately Aunt Terri is quick on her feet and informed him that Yes! She had gotten the balloon! But unfortunately she had put it in Uncle Mike's car and he was at work. She promised him that next time she saw him she would bring him back the balloon. That night she and Mike stopped by, and lo and behold, returned the balloon to Will! He was so excited! That Aunt Terri is pretty talented to be able to fly planes and retrieve balloons all at the same time!