Friday, August 17, 2012

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!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

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!