The boss

Nolan is turning in to quite the little bossy 2 1/2 year old (see video for proof). Tonight it went something like this: M: Nolan, it's time to say prayers. (Nolan walks over to his window and looks at me) N: Listen, Mommy. After awake, I go fishin wiff gampa.

The Apple Orchard

We made our now annual pilgrimage to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard on Sunday after naptime. The weather could have been better, but at least it wasn't crowded! Ellen and Greg were able to come with us, so that made it extra special for the kids. Nolan was able to ride the Apple Express, pet a llama, see a few chickens and goats, and ride on his favorite thing at that moment - a tractor. He especially like the green tractor! At the top of the hill Nolan helped Adam buy a bag of donuts, so he was able to enjoy 1 1/2 of them. He is getting to have quite a sweet tooth. Kale had a great time chasing all the chickens, petting the llama, and in general running around. He thought it was fun to take pieces of hay out of the hay bales on the hay ride, throw them over the side of the trailer and then watch it fall to the ground. He's really in to cause and effect these days! The most amazing thing of all was looking at the pictures we took of the boys. We take a picture each year in front of this apple chart, and what a difference a year makes!


Saturday the boys spent the day with Jackie and Keith while Adam and I attended my cousin's wedding. Thankfully the boys were good! Sunday morning after Kale's nap we headed to Target to get his 1 year pictures taken. We thought about rescheduling because of the huge yellow/purple/green bruise on his forehead, but the next time available was mid-October, and I didn't want to wait that long. Besides, he probably would have hurt himself again. As Jane says, Kale doesn't go around things. He blindly walks through and over things, which causes him to fall quite a bit! Kale did pretty good at his pictures, but I found out it's a lot more challenging now that he's walking. He did really well for the first 6 pictures or so, when he was sitting. Once we had him stand it was all over. Oh well. I've learned you take what you can get!

The cake

Kale tried to dig in to his cake on his birthday, but all he did was get the frosting smeared on his face and hands. Luckily we had a sheet behind him, because quite a bit ended up on it! Nolan was again thrilled to celebrate Kale's special day. He sang happy birthday many times, and really dug in to his special cupcake.



We had Kale's 1 year appointment today. He weighs 23 lbs 8 oz. (65%), is 31 inches long (85%) and has a head circumfrence of 18 inches (only 30%!). He took his shots as best as he could, and hung in there for the hemoglobin test. He is a very healthy boy, which is all we can ask for! And the best part is he said another word - banana, which just happens to be his favorite food!

And just like that, Kale is 1!

Exactly one year ago at this time I was resting comfortably in a bed at Park Nicollet. The epidural was keeping me comfortable as we waited for our baby to make the grand entrance. Adam and I watched the first full Sunday of football and enjoyed the movie The Three Amigos. All the nurses and our dr. thought the baby would arrive on the 12th, but Kale waited to make his grand entrance at 1:46 am on the 13th. What a year it has been! Kale is turning in to a very fun and active toddler. He loves eating, his brother, bath time, and playing with trucks. He doesn't like it when you take something away from him! He never stops moving, and has successfully made the transition of no bottle and no nook. He goes to bed every night like a champ - sometimes fussing for a 1 minute or 2, but then comforting himself with his blanket and the toys in his crib. He is so much fun!

Adam was gone all day on Saturday at a golf tournament. I worked really hard every night during the week so I wouldn't be stressed out on Saturday when it was just me and the boys. We hopped in the car at 7:45 to start running errands. The boys enjoyed riding in the funny double seat cart at Target. We made a quick stop at Kohl's and then spent about 45 minutes at the play area. It as the first time for Kale and 2nd for Nolan, and they both had fun running around. Nolan's favorite part were the mall rides. I never put money in them, but he's content to just climb and sit. He and Kale shared a ride in a red convertible! Kale tested his boundaries again and finally figured out how to go down a slide by himself. He also figured out how to crawl up a slide! Now we have to try and explain to him why we don't do that. After one last stop to pick out an outfit for Kale's 1 year pictures we started our drive home. I made a last minute decision to stop at Baker's Square to eat with the kids. I never do stuff like that with both the boys - it's so much work and it's a lot harder to deal with melt downs when you're the only one there to do it! This was literally only the 2nd time I've ventured out in public with both of them and I was pleasantly surprised. Both boys were happy to sit at the table and color while we waited for our food. Nolan made fast friends with all the servers and managers at the restaurant. He is so social, just like his dad. Once the food came out the boys were content to eat without fussing. I even got to enjoy my meal, which doesn't even happen at home! Both kids fell asleep on the way home, and I was successfully able to get them down for naps, all while talking on the phone at the same time:) After nap we paid a visit to Erica and Dave, and then headed home for dinner and our bedtime routine. As soon as the kids were in bed I set out on my now semi-annual mission of creating a great cake for a birthday party. I was proud of my first attempt at a cake in the shape of a number 1. It wasn't perfect, but that's what made it great.


We had Kale's birthday party on Sunday. We had 27 people over, and we had fun. Kale was oddly quite out of routine, so he wasn't awake for much of the party. When he was awake he wasn't real smiley, either. Nolan, on the other hand, had a grand time celebrating Kale's birthday. It was actually more like Nolan's 1/2 birthday - he opened all of Kale's gifts, really enjoyed the cake, and had fun entertaining everyone. While everyone was just about to start singing Happy Birthday to Kale he reached out and grabbed the lighted, flaming candle. My bad keeping it within reaching distance of his wandering little hands! He didn't burn himself, but did get quite a scare when everyone yelled "no". He started crying (which is quite a funny picture), so I ended up holding him as we sang happy birthday. Adam and I thought he would really dig in to the cake, and again were surprised when he didn't do that. He picked at it for quite a while, tried sticking his face in it a few times (but was prevented from that by the tray on his booster seat), and finally picked it up to eat it. There was hardly a mess. All the fun wore Kale out, and he was in bed at 5:40 that evening.

Tomorrow we're looking forward to celebrating Kale's real birthday with just our family at home. I plan on picking up the free cake from Byerly's, and we're hoping he'll really dig in to it. Nolan wasn't messy, so we're hoping Kale will make up for it!

Kale talks!

Kale surprised Jane today by pushing away his cereal bowl and announcing "All done". He must be listening to Nolan! I'm just waiting for him to say Nolan's all time favorite - "I don't want to!".

Labor Day

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Saturday morning we took a long walk with the boys that included a pit stop at a neighborhood park. This park happens to have 2 play areas - 1 for big kids and 1 for kids Kale's age. Kale had a fantastic time climbing the stairs, walking around near the slides, and testing his limits by trying to walk down the slides! Our youngest doesn't have any fear at all, which is a little scary sometimes. Nolan and Adam had fun climbing on the big slides. Adam learned the hard way that slides that look wet with dew actually are wet with dew - which left him with wet shorts. My favorite part of the morning was watching Nolan and Kale "ride" together in a little blue truck on a spring. Nolan "steered" and Kale hung on, all while Nolan rocked them back and forth. The two of them giggled up a storm! While the boys were napping Jackie came over to watch the 2 of them so Adam and I could attend a wedding he was officiating in St. Paul. It turned out to be a really nice day, and the wedding was great. We had a bonfire later that night.

On Sunday Adam spent the day at the state fair, so the boys and I headed to a co-workers hobby farm to "help" with chores. Nolan thought it was fantastic to help feed the turkeys, chickens, cows, goats, cats and horses. He even got to ride on a 4 wheeler with Kirsten! Both of the kids were really good. Kale's highlight was chasing the baby kittens are the barn and watching them climb on the hay. Nolan's hightlight was getting nuzzled and hugged by the friendliest goat I've ever seen. Since we were half way to St. Cloud I decided to take the boys to see my parent's. It was nice to eat a lunch I didn't have to make, and we got to see my grandma, too. That evening we headed over to Erica and Dave's for a campfire, as Nolan calls it. He was exicted to roast marshmellows and really enjoyed a slushie that Erica made for him. We found out that Nolan reacts to sugar just like Adam does - right away and a little crazy! We took it easy on Monday, exploring a new part of the Dakota trail and making sure the boys took good naps. After the kids went to bed Adam and I enjoyed a bonfire. I tended to the fire while he participated in an on-line fantasy football draft. What a great way to end a fantastic weekend at home! This week will be busy getting ready for Kale's 1st birthday party. We're expecting between 25 and 30 people. The weather forecast looks great - hopefully it stays that way!