Marie says volume 5

 Did you know that Marie is not so little anymore?!?  Andy & I just stare at her and wonder how she got this big...unbelievable. 

 

She is a big helper around the house with the 3 boys: she feeds Charlie, gives him bones, helps walk him, lets him out into the backyard, and always follows him around making sure he stays out of trouble; She plays with Bennett and keeps him happy or tells me exactly what he needs; She studies with Andy to make sure he is providing the best care for his patients by asking him "why" over and over when he explains anything medical.

 

With all this growing comes even more silliness out of that mouth of hers:

 

"Mommy I had a dream that the dragon was taking you and Daddy away."

"Honey, it's ok. It was just a dream."

"I know and the dragon said he was taking my dreams away, too!"

 

Marie still doesn't like bed time...and frequently comes up with ways to procrastinate. Often saying she is feeling sad, is afraid of a lion, afraid of a mean guy from "Mulan," or just needs a cuddle with Dad.

 

****

"Mommy look I am pumping on the swing just like you pump bottles for Bennett!"

 

 

"Aww my Charlie wants to cuddle with me.  You love your Marie so much don't ya buddy."

"oh Marie, you and Char are cuddl--"

"Mom, we just want to be alone please."

 

While playing outside, I was listening to her pretend to play house with her baby and of course "Giraffe and Bunny."  Suddenly I heard, "Giraffe Mueting (pronounced 'Muting') what are you doing?!?" 

"Marie, our last name sounds like this: "Meeting." 

"Nope. That's not what they call me at school."

***

Grammy & Papa found this treasure for Marie...she loves doing makeup and painting nails. 

 

We have spent countless hours with our nails looking like this thanks to our little artist. She loves for her nails to be painted too.  So, when it is her turn to paint my nails, she often says. "Sorry mom, you can't use my nail polish until you are older because you will make a big mess."  I wonder where she has heard that before???

 



 

Age 3 has been an adventure thus far...and we are only a few months in!

Bennett Boy at 3 months

 

 

Just look at that face...I could stare at him all day and do silly voices, sing crazy songs, or tickle him just to see him smile.  He is such a sweet little boy.

 

 

 Obviously his sister feels the same way. These 2 are loving each other more and more as time goes by.  Bennett lights up when Marie walks into the room and she will spend countless hours holding his hand, talking to him, or reading him books.

 

Charlie is enjoying his little buddy too.  He is mostly interested in slobbering him with kisses which is difficult for him to do because a certain big sister is always watching and is quick to avert the big 'ol dog. It is apparent that Bennett's parents are dog lovers...nearly every outfit has a puppy on it.

 



 

 

Bennett is not only smiling so much more, he is also giggling, talking and cooing, kicking and hitting at toys, holding toys, drooling and chewing on everything, and also working on his sitting skills in the Bumbo chair. So far there is no attempt to roll over...he is pretty content to lay on his back and look at his toys or play arch that way.

 

 

I am not sure his exact weight, but  I am guessing at least 18 lbs. He is wearing 9 month clothes now and 12 month sizes are on the way.

 

 



 Bennett does NOT...I repeat NOT like tummy time. The only time he tolerates it is if you are holding him standing up so that he is parallell with the ground...kind of like he is playing airplane or something.  Tummy time is the time where you hear him scream.  Other than that, he really doesn't cry unless he is tired or hungry. 

 

He has started daycare as I am officially back at work on Tuesday the 25th.  He has been adjusting well but he is a bit of a pistol when it comes to eating a bottle. He does better at daycare with the bottle than at home.

 

The past 3 months have been such a whirlwind. We are so thankful for the blessings of this little boy. 

Finally a weekend off!

After many weekends "on," Andy had a weekend off!  We took full advantage of it by enjoying the weather and eachother. 

 



 

We started by waking up early Saturday morning to get fresh doughnuts from a little shop in Leeds.  They are famous for their doughnuts and they did not disappoint.  Marie and Daddy worked on the yard that morning, Bennett and Daddy watched the Huskers, and we also did a little shopping at night.  (Side note: It's amazing how little we get accomplished on these shopping trips with our kids!)

On Sunday we were surprised by a lunch date with Chris, Mindy, and the girls.  We had a great time and Marie was so sad to see them go.

We also got to discover a new park on Sunday evening.  Both kids enjoyed the fresh air and fun. 

 What a good weekend to reconnect as a family...looking forward to more this fall!

Clay County Fair

Our fun weekend continued with a trip over to Spencer to see Grammy and Papa.  The Clay County Fair is going on this week and we were looking forward to seeing the animals, going on rides, and of course eating fair food.

 



Marie started out climbing high on the farm equipment with Grammy.  Meanwhile, Bennett hung with Papa who had made sure everyone at the fair new who Bennett was rooting for that afternoon.

 

Next we moved on to the animals. This girl has no fear when it comes to petting any kind of animal.  She was ready to climb over the fencing and get as close as possible.

 

 

 

 

We finished up with a funnel cake - obviously Marie enjoyed her treat! 

 

 

It was such a fun weekend with all our family.  More things that happened but no pictures:  walk around a lake with Charlie, rode many fair rides including the ferris wheel and big slide, picked out pumpkins at a pumpkin patch with Grammy, ate our tummies full of kettle corn and watched football. 

 

Thanks for letting us come play Grammy & Papa!

Fun on the Farm

 

Andy has had a busy week with work, a conference, recruitment for the residency, etc.  So, when Daddy is away, the kids and mommy play! 

 

We loaded up everything but the kitchen sink and headed to see some family.  First stop was Grandma Nel's where Marie got to play with her cousins.  Next we went out to Uncle Chris and Aunt Mindy's farm.  They have 2 new chocolate lab puppies to love on and Marie was ready to give them the attention.  She was very understanding of there nibbling and even offered them her book to chew on.

 

Alissa and Abby were ready to show her the finer points of 4-wheeling but Marie was a bit timid with them driving.  So....

 

 Mommy hopped on and drove her around - it was a blast for me but as you can see by her face she was still a bit unsure of it. So...

 

Uncle Chris suggested a tractor ride.  She LOVED it.  We started explaining why farmers had tractors which led to Marie asking many many questions about how we get food from the field, who the food is for, where it goes when it is out of the field, and on and on and on. 

 



When we got off the tractor she went to the field, picked the corn, and said "C'mon we have to bring it to the pigs now."  So Uncle Chris led her to the pig barn where more of her burning questions were answered.  This little girl loved learning all this new information and now is an expert and feed for animals.  To really make is a full circle moment, a feed truck came and delivered feed for Chris' new pigs that will be arriving this week.  Hopefully we can get there to see the pigs when they are tiny.

 



While all this was going on outside...

 

 these 2 where just hanging out. The were holding hands, smiling at each other, and even using eachother's fingers for chew toys.

 

Anneke is 3 months older than Bennett...it always amazes us how big Bennett is getting!  I don't notice it until I see another baby for comparison. 

 

 

It was such a fun night on the farm for us all - a great way to spend a cool fall evening and we hope we have more fun times there soon!

Welcome Aunt Katie

Aunt Katie made a trip to Sioux City this weekend to meet Bennett and play with Marie.  The weekend started with Marie having a fever but things got better as time went on.  Time was spent playing, playing, playing and doing lots of laughing. Mommy even got to take naps! 

 

 

We went to the park, got donuts, watched the Huskers, and built the tallest block tower in the history of block towers at the book store. 

 

Thanks for coming Aunt Katie - we had a blast!

The Great Outdoors

 

 On Labor Day evening our entire family got to enjoy a hike together in a campground not too far from our home.  This is something Andy, Charlie, and I have loved doing ever since Charlie was a tiny puppy. 

 

 

Although it takes a bit more organizing and planning, we continue to do this with all our kids. 

 

 

 There was a nice playground for us to take a break and grab some water.

 

 

Marie loves finding these dandelions and re-enacting scenes as Belle from Beauty and the Beast...it's a common thread of every walk we go on together.

 

Marie and Charlie also took a walk in the lake to cool off together...both proceeded to get nice and muddy for the ride home while we had to force them out of the water.

 Thanks to Papa and Daddy we aso have a new door on our house!  We love having a storm door with a big window to look through.  It keeps us all entertained and adds much needed light to our living room upstairs.

 

 Bennett loves laying under his toys by the window and watching the trees. This will be fun for him this fall as the leaves begin to fall. 

 

We are all looking forward to more time outside as the weather gets a bit cooler and easier to enjoy with a baby in tow.