Fun in the fall




The past few weeks have been pretty busy around our house---and our baby boy is growing up so fast!  We have both been busy with work--and I am SO proud of Patrick--he got a promotion at work that is much deserved! He works so hard and has done such a great job at St. Lukes--so excited for him and for his new role as an Operational Consultant for the entire health system!! Whoo-hoo!!

Will has been doing great overall.  The past several weeks, we have been trying to figure out what the cause of his bad diaper rash was.  He was having lots of diarrhea, so those frequent dirty diapers were giving him constant diaper rash--and it got really bad a few weeks ago.  At that point, the doctor suggested Neutromagin (sp?) formula that basically broke down the formula to leave out the cow's milk allergens - and to leave out dairy in his diet.  (Side note--that stuff smells so nasty--going down AND on the way out!)  After getting used to that taste, and noticing that his diaper rash cleared up and less loose stools---we were doing a lot better.  Also side note--that stuff is WAY expensive!  So, Dr. Espe called and said after we are done with our free samples, since Will is close to 1 year, we can start him on cow's milk.  Before we even started him on milk, we added in some lasagna we had made that had some cottage cheese in it---and that night, Will woke up at midnight and his poor stomach was hurting SO bad.  He was having such bad gas pains, and would be farting now and then, and we could just tell he needed to get it out.  He would get so uncomfortable though, he just couldn't fall asleep, and stay asleep.  So, after 2 shifts each, and about 1 1/2 later, he slept just fine.  Patrick researched on his phone at that time, and we decided since that next morning we were supposed to start regular milk---we decided to get a lactose-intolerent milk, and so far Will has had that for 2 days now and is getting along fine.  So, we'll keep our fingers crossed, and hopefully it was just a sensitivity and something he'll get over.  (*My Mom was telling me this weekend how whenever I was sick, they would take milk out of my diet and I would feel better...I've always had somewhat of an upset stomach, so hopefully Bubba didn't get my sensitive stomach)

Lastly, we got to go down to the Lake this weekend and help Mom and Don move into their new house!!!  It was so fun--and it's going to be so nice to have our own place!  It's a perfect place for them, and it's very wide open, and we can now envision where we will make lots of fun memories!  Cheers to that :)

Happy boy



Standing up almost all by myself

Helping G&G Johnsen move in to the new lakehouse--and playing with my first pumpkin!



10 Month Update

Over the past month, our big boy keeps growing and getting more and more independent. 

- He has mastered holding his own bottle, and knows how to pick up his food on his tray and put it in his mouth.

- Teething-- this is probably the most significant event over the past month.  Will has his 2nd tooth in on the bottom, but it's been pretty rough on him.  It's so crazy how much he poops, and because of that, he has gotten a really bad diaper rash :(  Poor guy.  Hasn't broken the skin yet, but looks like it could anytime.  It's been VERY red, so we called the doctor last week and they prescribed an antibiotic, which helped a lot over night, but seems like every time he poos, and we don't catch it right away, it'll flare up.  So, we are really hoping our sweet boy gets over this, although from what I hear, it can last quite a while.  The good news is, it really hasn't changed his mood too much, only when we change him and/or have to try not to wipe much, since that irritate the skin even more.  Hope  next month we can say it's much better!

- Daycare- we are feeling more comfortable with the people at daycare and Will fitting in there.  He seems to enjoy it, and has days that he takes 1 1/2 hr naps at least...so it's not as much as he does at home, but it's better than when we started!  Will has also started eating the meals they provide at daycare, and they say he's done really well with the table food.  Good job buddy! 

- September has been a fun month of nice, relaxing weekends at home.  Patrick finished putting in the flagstone patio in our backyard, so we have gotten to enjoy that (now on to the next project for him...he doesn't stop! I think he gets it from Bill :))  We have been able to get out and enjoy this awesome fall weather, catch some good football games (mostly on TV, maybe we'll get to a game or two at some point), and spend some time with good friends and family.  It's what it's all about :)  Both Patrick and I are getting more and more busy with work, but it's all good, and I guess comes along with getting more responsibilities.  We are both pretty lucky our work is flexible with schedules and we can take off early if needed, etc.

Hope you all have a great week!

My handsome Bubba - 10 months old

Celebrating Emma's 1st bday by driving her around (I love his face!!)

Ha!  This picture is good for a laugh everytime I see it!!

Hanging with my buddy Daniel

Happy boy

Go Huskers!!

9 months- From Baby to Little boy

Oh my gosh---I seriously feel like Will has grown up SO much in the past month.  I may say it every month, but this has been the most changes for sure this time---no longer my baby and more a little boy.

- All of a sudden, he went from sitting up to pulling himself up on things and wanting to stand ALL the time now!  He is SO curious about everything and will crawl (usually an army-like crawl) to get where he wants. Dr. Espe says usually once he starts pulling himself up to stand and walking around things, it could be about 4-6 weeks before walking on his own!  Ah---I don't know if I'm ready for that already! (I'm so sentimental---but seriously, this is such a fun stage right now!)

- He is eating table food now--he can have pretty much anything, and we can incorporate meat.  Basically anything except something highly allergic, like eggs, nuts, peanut butter, shellfish.  So far, he has still loved pretty much everything..although the spaghetti texture was something new, some days he likes, some days not.  Loves his yogurt, bananas, applesauce, he will pick up the cheerios but doesn't yet realize he is supposed to put in his mouth!  Lots of fun with food and trying new things!

- He can drink out of a sippy cup and is starting to hold his own bottle (kind of---mostly he still lets us do it!)

- He started Daycare at St. Luke's last week... Will is going to go there for 2 days out of the week, to give Mimi a break and it'll be nice he's close to Patrick and they allow us to be flexible with his schedule if needed.  Anyway, it was SO hard to leave him that first day, and not feel completely confident in what we were doing, but we just have to trust we are doing the right thing.  So far, nap time has been tough there, and after being there now his 4th time, I am hoping he will continue to adjust and get more sleep there.  But otherwise, he has gotten good reports that he is playing well, he likes his new friends, and just at times is a little needy :)

9 mo. old - 22 lbs (75%) and 28" tall (50%)

Spending Labor Day at the Condo (last time before Mom and Don sell!)

Standing at my activity table is my favorite right now!

Honestly, I feel so blessed every single day to have such a fun, healthy, happy, active little boy.  He is so, so much fun--I really do look forward to getting up in the morning just to hang out with him! (for anyone that knows me, I'm NOT a morning person, but am much more of one now!)  It helps that Will is always especially happy in the morning too, and will usually just smile and smile.  It melts my heart every time I see that sweet smile.  This weekend, Will also said 'Ma-ma' several times!!!  Between hearing that and hearing him giggle, it's the best sounds ever---by far!!  I know it sounds crazy, but everytime he said Mama, was when he was trying to get my attention or when he was right next to me... I think he knows!! 

Will is also such a charmer.  Whenever we are in church or in a restaurant or out somewhere, he always seems to charm the ladies or smile so big at someone and we get comments a lot on our cute baby.  We definietly think so--but fun to hear from others too! :)  In fact, this weekend we were eating at a Mexican restaurant with Mom and Don---and for some reason Will started getting the giggles.  He was laughing so hard, and had us all laughing back at him at our table---which made the 3 tables around us all look over and were laughing too!!  It was such a sweet moment.  Patrick actually mentioned this weekend, that he never knew how much he would laugh when he became a Dad---it's so true!  You know things will change, but never in our wildest dreams could we imagine how much fun it would be. 

Oh!  And lastly, Will is going to have a baby cousin!! My sister and Cody are expecting Baby Lew 2 on March 9th 2013!!  So excited and can't wait to see if we will have a little niece or nephew :) 

60th Wedding Anniversary - Great Grandma and Grandpa Altenhofen

Such a great picture

Bubba Bear

Celebrating 60 years!!

On our way to Seneca - makes it seem that he is a happy traveller :)

My sister-in-laws---at a shower for Michelle

This week with Grandma Johnsen...

Such strong legs---still loves jumping!

We discovered Will loves holding the garage opener on walks!  So funny!

Fun with cousin Daniel in the wagon!

Grandma chasing around the boys!

Our Meghan

Will was so lucky to have Meghan Connelley come down 2 days (sometimes more!) a week this summer to watch him at our house.  Ok, WE ALL loved having Meghan down.  Meghan actually started watching Will since he was 3 months old, when I went to back to work---she watched him once a week, while Marilee taught her younger brothers art lessons.  Marilee spoke so highly of her, and when we talked about someone coming to watch Will some this summer, and after a neighbor girl of ours didn't work out, we called Meghan right up and asked if she was interested.  It was definitely in God's plan. 

Meghan is a breathe of fresh air---super positive, spunky, and even though she is little---she has lots of energy and I can tell she cares about Will---and he always lit up when she came over.  I hope someday I can teach my children the importance of being dependable and timely---these were two things that we always grew to appreciate so much with Meghan.  We always knew she would be there on the days we had deceided and she was always about 5-10 minutes early, so Patrick and I could still get to work on time--even with a long drive from up north. 

Anyway, last week was Meghan's last one with us scheduled, as she has to start up her junior year of high school--but I"m sure she'll see Will at Marilee's still, and I'm sure she'll get calls from us to babysit from time to time.  Thanks for taking such good care of our sweet boy Meghan!

8 month update

Another month gone by??  Seriously---summer is flying by--now it's almost time for school to start!  It's definitely been a really hot summer, almost every day over 100+ (which makes it not fun to do anything outside, so we stay inside a lot on the really hot days/nights)  and the Olympics are on!  I love watching the Olympics (especially gymnastics, swimming, beach volleyball), and the crazy thing is that the last time the Olympics were on, Patrick and I were just dating, our first summer together.  Crazy how much has changed in just 4 years!

Anyway, our baby boy is already over 8 months old....updates on what is new with Will:

- He started crawling!  He definitely is moving around, mostly scooting, but since he scoots across the room, it counts :)  Not quite up on all fours crawling, but he's deifnitely moving!

- He always wants to stand!  When we hold him, he will push up with his strong legs and walk up our stomachs to stand up--you can tell he feels so proud of himself when he's standing up like a big boy! 

- He loves grabbing our faces--especially when he's eating.  For some reason it's really fun to grab our noses really hard, or trying to stick his hands in our mouths---hope that phase ends soon ;)

- He has his first little tooth on the bottom!  This just happened a day or so ago, we can see a little white cap---and he is definitely acting like it hurts---poor guy.  A little Ibuprofen, oragel ,and teething rings---and hope this phase ends soon too!  Hate seeing him hurting... but he has still been sleeping well and through the night, so knock on wood, that that continues. 

- he laughs SO hard when Patrick starts dancing around....this usually happens in the evening as he is in his highchair, we are getting his dinner ready and to entertain him, Patrick will dance and sing around.  Will laughs so hard, it's seriously the best sound in the world.  I keep saying I need to record it, so I won't ever forget that sound (and I'm so sentimental, I know every year as he grows up, I'll want to remember these sweet moments)  But, Patrick made me promise that I can't post/share that video anywhere!  Ha!  Maybe if I can just get Will's laughs :)

- Car trips--- we have always struggled with knowing how/when to put Will in for road trips, b/c in the past, we would assume he would sleep in the car during his normal nap time, but he would end up not sleeping at all and then just miss the nap, be overtired, and it just gets back to worse from there.  So, we went to NE again this weekend (this time for my 10 year class reunion, my step-cousin's wedding, and my cousin Amber's baby shower)....and I think we FINALLY figured out that if we just have a really big bottle of milk ready to give him....we can reach back and feed him that, and he gets so full, he's kind of in a milk coma. :)  Worked on the way up (after hearing him cry 1/2 way up) and then started it on the way back, and worked like a charm! 

- He loves the pool!  He kicks around and could stay in the water all day!

We really are so blessed to have such a happy baby!  He brings us so much joy---and I could just eat him up!  We are having a blast with him at this age and we know it'll just keep getting better.  Some pictures from recent events and 8 month shots:

Happy boy

I love standing up like a big boy

Hanging with Amy, Cody and Daniel--we love these times!

Getting his 2nd haircut---this time at a real salon with a fun firetruck to sit in!

Hey there blue eyes

Couple of my girlfriends at my 10 year class reunion!