Can Walter open his presents now?

Translation - can I open Walter's presents now? Owen was asking this the moment the first person arrived for Walter's birthday party this evening. He then 'helped' Walter open all his presents and play with them.

We had a nice small party for Walter. Both sets of grandparents were there and one set of great-grandparents. We missed Uncle Moogs and Uncle Jon, but got to have Auntie Kindi and Auntie Rachel and sweet little cousin Isabelle. It was fun to see the cousins play together...and see that dominant Hipps nose! Walter enjoyed his cake and stayed surprisingly clean.

Owen also enjoyed the cake...requesting the snake first, than changing his mind and asking for the larger blue elephant.











Yesterday we all went to Walter's well child appointment. He came into this world at 8 lbs 1 oz and 20.5 inches. After one year, he is now 22 lbs 9 oz and 29.5 inches. We are so lucky to have such a healthy happy boy.

Tomorrow we will do our best to relax and be a family. We have been on the move quite a bit lately, so it will be good to have some alone time as a family.


Happy Birthday Walter!!!

Because I'm a chef now.

The reason Owen now knows how to wash his own dishes.

Today was the last day of cooking camp. Owen asked when its going to be open again, so I think he had fun. I had the pleasure of bringing Arianna in the minivan two of the mornings. It was fun to hear her & Owen talk about life. They are sweet, goofy kids that like to laugh.





My mom stayed home with Walter while Owen was at camp and I ran some errands. I got a haircut and stopped at a few different stores. It was nice. Lucky for me, reality isn't going to set in for a while yet. My dad comes tomorrow and they will stay through Wednesday! Let the spoiling continue...

Here's Walter after dinner, ready for a bath!

And now, the debut of 'Beep, beep', Owen's song he is going to sing when he gets on American Idol. He made it up tonight in the bath.



Jer is less than an hour away - hooray!

Later, dudes.

1, 2, 3...UNDERDOG

Owen's favorite swing-time saying.

Sorry, I'm obviously new to the video technology on our camera as I held it the wrong way. Still, I thought I'd share, so tilt your head to the left and hit play.

Walter just knows how to do everything now, Mommy.

Owen talking about how smart Walter is now that he is one.

What a hot summer day today was...finally. We are back in Mpls enjoying summertime. My mom drove back with us yesterday and was a blessing in the car! All I had to do was drive while she entertained the kiddos.

We got back in time to go to Owen's new t-ball league. He is now in the Periwinkle Blue team - not quite as creative as the previous, but oh well. He was pumped to get back on the field. A couple of his friends from playgroup are on another team, too. Kindi came by to watch Owen play ball and we got to wish her a quick happy birthday. She & Walter are just one day apart...I'll let her tell you how many years.

Owen has cooking camp all week. I was anticipating that he'd be cooking up all sorts of concoctions but if it goes anything like today, he will be learning how to make all sorts of not so healthy snacks. Oh well. He & our neighbor, Arianna, seem to be enjoying themselves. They ended class in the pool, so that can't be all that bad, right?!

We ended the day celebrating Kindi's birthday. Owen was very excited to give her present after present that he made & wrapped himself. Walter really enjoyed his auntie tonight and cried when I put him to bed at his regular time. He got to get up again and spend a little more time smiling at Auntie Kindi. My mom made a delicious Thai dinner and strawberry shortcake (Kindi's annual request). Yum.

It's Walter's birthday!

Owen was pretty excited for his baby brother's big day.

Walter is one today. He is sweet as usual.

We are having his official party next weekend, but I couldn't let the day pass without a few presents and some cake. Walter was more impressed with the balloons than the gifts - which Owen was eager to help with. We had dinner with some friends at the Chuckwagon and he enjoyed his cake there. Pretty cute!

Daddy catches weeds, Grandpa catches weeds, Owen catches fish.

Unfortunately Dad & Jer, Owen doesn't lie.


Jer came yesterday and Owen was so excited to take him fishing. They went and got minnows and a special fishing treat and hit the river this morning. Owen caught the only fish of the day, a long slimy Northern. He asked if he could keep it and eat it, but we threw it back. I went along and slept and read my book. It was fun to see Owen reel the fish in.

We cooked ka-bobs and corn on the cob over the fire last night. Owen had his first real smore and couldn't stop saying "Mmmmm" the whole time he ate it. Somehow he managed to talk Grandpa into letting him have seconds.

Walter's loving the gate-free stairways here. We have all gone up and down with him over & over again. He really enjoys tossing balls down them and then laughing about it. He is such a giggly little guy. Tomorrow is his big day! Our baby is going to be one. Wow! I was completely huge and uncomfortable on this day last year. Seriously huge.

The sish took my bobber and everything!

Owen telling me about the big fish that got away.

We are enjoying our time here on the Menominee River. The past few days were a bit cloudy and windy, but today is a beautiful sunny day. Its hard to say who's having more fun - the kids, myself, the grandparents or Griffin. Griffin loves running around and jumping in the water here. He was born to run. My parents are keeping the boys busy (or is it the other way around?) biking, walking, fishing, motorcycle rides, planting flowers, swinging, and who knows what else!

We had dinner over at the Gerber's house last night. The kids got lots of love and kisses from all my parents' friends. This afternoon we are taking the pontoon out and having a dinner cruise! Owen has been waiting and waiting to go fishing on the boat, but the cool weather held us back. So today is the day and he is quite excited!

I'm really stressed out today as I have to go get a pedicure at 3:00. I don't know how I'm going to do it all...

No, I'm a big boy.

Owen told this to a girl waiting to go down a slide at McDonald's today that had said to him, "Go down little boy."

The boys and I made the 300 mile trip to my parents this morning. They really did quite well on the ride. I have to admit after about 4 hours, I was ready to tell them to move at least 2 hours closer, but the boys then fell asleep and we made it with only two stops. I even got to listen to a good hour of The World is Flat on CD.

Once we arrived, my mom told me about two massage and one pedicure appointments she made for me this week. Sweet! Then, my dad told Owen they needed to go get some worms for fishing. They came back with worms and a new bike! I admit it, we are spoiled.

We had a nice Father's Day with Jer. The highlight of his day was catching the biggest fish of his life, a large mouth bass. He was so excited about it (& concerned about getting it back in the water) that he forgot to measure it. We are estimating it was about 21-22 inches and about 6 lbs.

We're looking forward to a fun, full week at Grandma & Grandpa's!

Maybe Cookie Monster took a bite of it.

Owen's explanation on why the moon was only about half full.

We celebrated Lindsay's birthday at our house last night. We had my GNO ladies over and their S.O.'s for a fun evening of food, lawn games and even some Wii. Its nice and relaxing to have good friends around. We laughed and laughed. Owen enjoyed the extra attention and took on everyone as a soccer goalie, not letting one ball get passed him.

Walter has been busy climbing into and onto everything he can. One of his favorite spots is Owen's bed. In this picture he climbed in after a bath, he crawled away from me before I could get his pajamas on him, let alone a diaper.

Last night Owen crawled into bed at about 3 a.m. He had changed from his pjs into his fishing outfit - gloves, sunglasses and all. He had set these clothes out next to his bed last night as Jer told him they could go fishing in the morning...just not at 3 a.m. They did go fishing this morning at the lake and Owen was very proud to be holding this Sunny he caught.

Please enjoy the video of Owen and his sweet moves. Now we are off to the library and park!

This time Mommy, don't let Daddy take it in the boat.

Owen's response to getting the new camera today. (Sorry, Jer, I had to write it!) I didn't realize our camera had video capabilities until I started looking for a new one. Here's a video of sweet Walter.

Um, I'm trying to remember.

This was Owen's response to my question, "What are you scared about?" In my book, that's called stalling bedtime.

It was a pretty low key day. We did some work on the front landscaping. We took a few walks. Owen decorated a foam visor, which is now his golf hat. Walter (& I) crawled up and down the stairs about 10 times. He would have kept going, but I finally put up the gate.

I burnt my hand cooking tonight and when I told Owen he said he had hurt his hand earlier, too. He said he was o.k. because he was tough like his daddy and then proceeded to show me his muscular arms.

Here's O when he was 13 months old. Some similarities to Walter, but they sure are different looking. When Walter was born I thought they'd look identical through time. He proved me wrong. He's really looking older to me lately...more like a one year old!

Oh, that was a wet one!

Owen got a kiss from Walter this morning! A little over due reciprocation after nearly a year of giving them out.

It was a nice, windy day; perfect for flying Owen's dinosaur kite. While Jer was on his work call, the boys and I went to our other back yard, the triangle field across the street, and gave it a whirl. Inspired by watching Mary Poppin's this weekend, Owen was pretty excited to get his kite up to the highest height. By the end he was getting it up in the sky all by himself. I forgot how much fun flying a kite is!

We all biked to the Grand Ole Creamery after dinner. Owen biked all the way there and most of the way back. He picked Cotton Candy ice cream. Walter shared a cone with Jer. A benefit of being the second child is you get treats much earlier in life!

Jer has decided to stay the night here and get up super early in the morning instead. He'll be on the road by 4:30 a.m. I can't tell you how nice it is to have him here an extra night!

Mosquitos like blood

Owen likes to tell people this. Its more like "squitos like blood," though.

We've had a lovely past few days. We've done some fishing, got new furniture in our fabulous new basement, went on bike rides, played games and countless other activities. I need to get back into a daily update, as when I don't, I have a hard time deciding where to begin.

We biked to Turtle Bread Company for lunch today and then hit a bucket of balls over at the Lake Hiawatha golf range. Owen's athletic ability and interest never ceases to amaze me. Tonight in his bath he asked if his soap was good for baseball players and golfers. Soap, shoes, clothes, food and nearly everything have to have a theme. Walter gave me kisses for the first time today. It was an open mouth, grilled cheese crumb kiss, the kind only a mother can love and ask for more of. I got about 7 in a row!

Jer gave me a pleasant surprise today...he's working from home tomorrow and thus not leaving until tomorrow night! Hooray! Such a fun bonus!

Walter is 8 months in the photo - from Valentine's Day - appropriate with the first kiss and all...

Owen is 2.5 in the photo - taken off the sauna dock at my parent's house. I don't remember if this is the pole that he dropped into Lake Nokomis. (I sense a theme in our family with dropping things into lakes...)

Good night.

Hey, Sweetie, are you ready to go on our walk?

How can a person say no to that? I wasn't quite ready for the walk, but got ready quickly after those precious words!

Jer came back yesterday in time for Owen's t-ball game. Grandma Donna & Grandpa Bruce came to watch, too. Owen was excited to have fans, but found the dirt in the field to be interesting at times, too. Normally he is the only kid actually paying attention and chasing the balls when they take turns hitting, but last night he joined the crowd and played in the dirt. We went to Buster's for dinner after. (photo is from Jer's fishing trip last year - one year ago today)

I forgot to mention that Walter has been crawling up on all fours since Monday! Its so cute. He's getting it down and already is doing less and less of the army crawl. However, when he wants something fast, that's the go-to mode still. I'll get a picture of that for you all soon...I ordered a refurbished camera today - compact friendly, thank you very much. :)

Here's a cute photo of O from about a year ago. We had taken the light rail downtown to have lunch with Jer this day. He's such a happy little guy.

O: Are we there yet? Me: No. O: Now?

This goes on & on & on. I didn't think this would start this early. I remember driving my parents crazy with these antics and thinking it was funny. So far it I still think its funny, but ask me in a week!

Right now Walter is belly laughing in bed. Normally he is deep in dreams by the time Owen goes to bed, but we were out late at Lindsay & Andreas's house and they are just getting to bed. I thought they'd both crash, but I thought wrong.

Jer comes home tomorrow, hooray.

I've got to get these boys asleep...and watch some CNN!

Do bottoms grow, too, Mommy?

This was Owen asking about potentially handing down his undies when he grows out of them. He cracks me up.

I'm ready for Jer to get back. Its been long. Thankfully we have really good boys, but still, its good to have a Dad around, too.

Owen & I got new bike helmets today. Owen got to get new elbow & knee pads, too. They came in a package which also contained biking gloves. He was so excited about the gloves, as our neighbor, Arianna, just got a pair. He wore the gear (minus the helmet) during his nap. Unfortunately it was raining when he woke up, so he had to wait to put the gear to use until after dinner.

That's the end of our family purchasing new things for a while. We are going back on the compact for the months of June & July. We did it during February & March and enjoyed the challenge of shopping for used stuff. Its refreshing walking into a regular store knowing you aren't going to buy something. It makes you reflect on what you really need.

No, I am trying to be a doggie.

As I was trying to wash the pen marks off Owen's face, this is what he told me. It was probably more like "NOOOOOOOOOO", but you get the point. He said the marks were like spots on dogs.

Jer left yesterday and took the camera with him. I thought you'd be stuck with stories and old pictures for a bit. Well, it might be more than a bit now as he called last night and told me he accidentally tossed the camera in the lake. Yes, our camera is at the bottom of Lake Kabetogama. Oh well, its just a camera! They were going to go try fish it out today; Wade saved the location on his GPS. We'll see.

Here's a photo from about a year ago - Rachel, Tracy, Maija (Rachel's daughter), Lindsay, Me (& Walter). My college girlfriends and I get together monthly for our GNO, Mandy didn't make this one. We went shopping in the quaint shops of downtown Northfield on this trip. Normally I would have loved that. I did enjoy it still, however, I remember sitting quite a bit while they shopped. I can't believe my belly was ever that big...and got bigger. Wow. The funny thing is, I actually tried on a regular shirt in one of the shops. I imagine the worker was thinking, she better buy that now that she stretched it out so much.

The boys & I successfully rode our bikes over to Fat Lorenzo's for dinner tonight. This was our second attempt; last night we were about 100 feet from the restaurant and sirens started going off so we turned around and had dinner at home. Luckily, too, as we got hit by a pretty big storm, hail and all.

Owen rode his bike all the way to and from dinner. He got lots of cheers, looks and 'neat bike's along the way. Dinner was interesting. I must have been desperate to go out with the boys by myself. Walter tried to grab everything constantly and I couldn't get his food in front of him fast enough. I think I had about 4 bites of the spaghetti and he ate the rest. I did manage to sneak in half of my salad. Owen got to get a gelato after dinner and choose Banana Monkey Boy. Walter and I split a chocolate one. I ended up just undressing him down to his onesie for the ride home as he was covered in spaghetti. We left quite a mess as you can imagine and I still feel hungry, hmmm. (the photo is from 4.07)

Once Walter was in bed, Owen & I played a game of Go Fish. He won 14-10. Good night.

Did you get to pick out a sticker too, Daddy?

After a couple weeks of being called Chippie and Snagle-Tooth and of being ridiculed about dental insurance and who knows what else, Jer got his front tooth fixed this morning at 7 a.m. Owen answered the phone when Jer called to let us know he was on his way home. When he said "I'm done at the dentist!", Owen replied with the question above. Pretty sweet.

Fishing was in the air today. Jer leaves for his annual Lake Kabetogama fishing trip with his college buddies in the morning. Although the boys didn't go fishing today there was sure a lot of talk about it. I got away for a few hours of alone time to gear up for a few more days of flying solo as a parent and came back in time to go over to Joanne's for dinner with the Hipps's. Jon, Rachel & Isabelle arrived this morning from Tennessee. It was so great to see them and see how Isabelle is growing. Although still a little peanut, she is really getting strong and anxious to be on the move. Walter was pretty intrigued by her. He poked her in the eye once and during a photo shoot, just wanted to keep staring at her. We got one good one - quite impressive when you think of it. Owen was very proud to be big enough to hold both babies.

Since he wasn't able to fish today, Owen had to at least get some baseball in. With Jer, Jon, Moogs & Grandpa Monster together, it was a pretty easy lure after dinner. Unfortunately a storm rolled in and cut the game short. Owen said he still managed to hit two homers.

There were beavers chopping down our house.

That is the dream that provoked Owen to crawl into bed with me sometime in the middle of the night last night.

Jer comes home tonight - hip, hip, hooray. Somehow I am always a much better mom on Thursdays.

We had Mandy & Myles over for a playdate this morning. We made blue-goo(even though O made his purple), which is just cornstarch, water & food coloring, and is super fun. Basically, when you grab it in the bowl it is like a solid but as soon as you take it out it turns to liquid. You can even punch it and its like punching a punching bag. Weird science. We all had fun with it.

The two boys get along quite well. They were downstairs playing hide & seek, trading off batting & pitching to one another, and playing trains together. Its been a nice find. Mandy & Jer grew up together in Chaska, then Mandy & I became good friends at Augsburg. Now she is a nanny to a little 3 year old boy, Myles. I've been surprised at how similar our parenting/nannying styles are. Its wonderful really.

Walter enjoyed watching the big boys play and was crawling into the toy bins left & right today. He dives right in and pops up with a big grin on. One of his favorite games to play is taking a ball and putting it in a box, then tossing it out of the box, getting it, putting it back in, etc. He also loves the dishwasher. The dude's got ears for that thing. As soon as I open it, he is there, trying to climb in. And, yes, he enjoyed his bath tonight...in case you can't tell.

Owen wanted to paint a painting for Daddy before bed. Its a lake, with a fishing boat in it. Surprised?

Um, sure, if you're serious.

This was my response when my neighbor, Summer, called me and asked if she could watch Walter while Owen & I went to t-ball! How lucky am I? She read my blog about not being able to pay much attention during his practices and decided to lend a helping hand. So great, we're not leaving 24th Ave anytime soon - these neighbors are gold. Also, I'm realizing this blog is pretty sweet, too! Did I mention that I'm really having a hard time finding time to go shopping for a new pair of jeans and fitting in a pedicure??? Anyone???

Owen & I biked to t-ball separately, yes, separately. He rode his bike the entire way there, about 2 miles. We even made it there early and he was able to do a little climbing on the playground before hand. In the interest of time, Summer watching Walter again someday, and Walter's bedtime, I talked Owen into putting his bike and himself into the burley for the ride home. It was fun.

Walter got a thumbs up from the Cagle's and I got some sweet smiles when I picked him up. He is precious. We are lucky to have such darling boys.

Mommy, now you're a worm hunter, too.

This is what Owen told me when I found a worm for him while working on our landscaping this evening. He's quite the eager helper - between the bubbles, chalk and worm collecting that is. Here he is planting an anemone for me. And here is one of about 15 photos he took of a worm.




We had a nice day. The Cagle ladies all came over this morning and we did some art projects and playing. The afternoon was a bit more intense - Owen woke up on the wrong side of his toddler bed and Walter decided not to take a second nap, but he's so cute, who cares.
I just got Owen down so I'm going going to sign off and have some alone time - awe.