Pish, woof!

Two entries from me in one day! Aren't you all lucky?
This one will be quite short though, as the boys are both awake and Brendan is probably poking Luke in the eye with a pacifier right now.
Luke is wearing a romper with some little orange fish on it. I've pointed them out to Brendan several times, telling him that they are fish. Well, he just pointed at one and said, "pish, woof!" to me. Now I have to explain to the kid that fish don't bark!

Recovering From Travel

I think we're all finally recovered from our trip. The kids are back to sleeping at their "normal" times. As normal as they ever were, I guess. The house is almost back in order from the chaos of packing and unpacking. Now we just have to make a brief visit up to Troy, MI and pack up our house for the move to Chester.
Here's my quick review of our trip:
Driving at night no longer seems to work especially well for us. It used to be that we could put Brendan in his carseat at bedtime and take off. By the time we reached the freeway, he'd be asleep and he'd sleep the whole way. It didn't work this time, either going or coming home. He was awake most of the trip and really fussy. Luke didn't sleep great either, but at least he only wanted to eat once each way.
Thursday, we took the kids to the Domes. They were beautiful as always, but Brendan was super-cranky and we left earlier than we had planned.
Friday, we went to the Zoo. Luke slept almost the whole time. Brendan wasn't in his best mood, but he did seem to enjoy all the animals, especially the tiger. He was fascinated by that tiger! And we had great weather for a trip to the zoo. It was sunny, but cool - absolutely perfect!
Saturday, we went to Lydia's birthday party. Brendan slept on the ride there (less than an hour), but that was all the nap we could get him to take. He did pretty well though for having gotten that little sleep. He and Lydia played very nicely together before the party started. Once, I peeked into the living room to see Lydia pointing across the room and telling Brendan something in Lydiese. Wish I knew what she was talking about. Brendan must have understood, he seemed quite interested in what she was saying. Another time, I peeked in to see her teaching him how to feed bottles to her baby dolls! Very cute.
While we were in Wisconsin, Brendan started to call my dad, "Papa." Well, sometimes it came out, "ah-pa." But it was really cute anyway.
He also did really well with Snow.
Last night I figured out why he had been a bit crabby in Wisconsin. He has now cut ALL of his two-year molars! Yay! As soon as he's done getting these out, we're done with teething from him for a long time!!! Which means I won't have to deal with him and Luke possibly teething at the same time.

Milwaukee Zoo Visit

We went to the Milwaukee Zoo yesterday. We all had a fun time.

Brendan really liked the hippos (Daddy's favorite animal) which proves he has good taste. Although I was able to get one picture with him looking at the camera, the rest of the pictures were of him looking around Daddy to look at the hippos. I thought it was cute.



Brendan was fussy for a little bit, but then we gave him a na-na (banana in Brendan talk). He enjoyed it and it calmed him down for a while.



I guess Luke got hungry after seeing Brendan eat his banana. After we went through the Cat house (Brendan's favorite part of the zoo), Luke decided that he needed a quick snack. He ate very well, and then took a nap. He was in baby heaven.



We tried getting a quick family picture in. It sorta worked, but the sun was kinda bright. I guess it's the thought that counts.



Although Luke slept most of the time at the zoo, both he and Mommy enjoyed the snuggle time in the sling.

We enjoyed the zoo and had a great time. We'll be sure to visit it again someday. Hopefully, we'll make it to the Detroit Zoo when we visit there in mid-July and the Fort Wayne Zoo in July before we move. The closest zoo to Chester looks like it is about 45 minutes away, so we should enjoy them while we are close.

Unfortunately, Julie and Lydia couldn't make it. We'll see them later today at Lydia's birthday party.

Milwaukee Visit

We're in Wisconsin this week for Lydia's Birthday party on Saturday.

We all survived the travel. I'm not sure how, but we do have a few pictures of Luke sleeping, but I think these are the only three times he has slept. He's been having a rough time.




Maybe he needs to fall asleep on Uncle Stephan when he is asleep?! At this point, I think we will try anything.


Snow is still here, just as cute as ever. It's nice to see her again.


Brendan has enjoyed sometime with Aunt Penny. Sitting on her lap is fun, but she makes sure that he gets enough zurbits (raspberries) on his tummy.


Brendan has worked very closely with Grandma to learn how to pet Snow gently. He adores her and makes sure to say "Hi" to her when he sees her. Snow is still uncertain of Brendan, but she enjoyed getting petted by Brendan.


Brendan has been spoiled with extra outside time. He has enjoyed playing outside with everyone. Here is Brendan trying to pull Daddy in the wagon. It didn't work out that well, but was fun while it lasted.


Despite Brendan's busy social life, he has found time to "ride" on Grandpa's Harley and untie Grandpa's shoes.


Super Brendan made a brief appearance the other day. There must be something wrong with the picture, since it looks like he needs someone's help to fly. I think it's just a bad angle or something.


Last night, we had dinner with the Thorsons (a family that Kira used to babysit for). They gave the boys a nice piggy bank to play with. Brendan enjoyed it today. Luke is letting Brendan play with it for a little while longer. Once he's big enough, I'm sure they will fight over it.



We took the kids to the Domes today. It was enjoyable, but both kids had a rough time.


Apparently, it wore Brendan out, since he wound up sleeping on the ride to Grandma's house and actually stayed asleep once we got in the house. As a result, he took his nap on the couch today.




Once Brendan was asleep, Luke woke up and got to play with Uncle Stephan and Aunt Penny.

Later today, we are going to the Milwaukee Zoo and Lydia will join us. It will be nice to see how much she has grown.

A Really Big [and overdue] Update!

It's been quite a while since I last posted. I have been quite busy with our family, school and work.

As Kira mentioned, we received our vicarage placement to St John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chester, Illinois. About 410 miles away from my dart in Platteville, Wisconsin.


Brendan and Luke have been adoreable. They seem to get cuter and cuter by the day.


Here is further proof that Luke is a cutie pie ...


... and proof that Brendan is a cutie pie as well.

Grandpa and Grandma Standfest visited a couple of weeks ago ...


Brendan got some time reading with Grandpa ...


... and in turn, Brendan had some time reading his book upside down to Grandpa.


Grandma and Brendan got to read and play in Brendan's new(-ish) big boy room (Daddy's old office).


Everyone got spoiled with some snuggle time before bed.


Luke also enjoyed snuggling with Grandpa and Grandma.


A week or two later, Brendan rediscovered how much he likes swinging and playing with pebbles.

Grandma Tupper visited so Daddy could help a friend move to the Holy City to attend Notre Dame.


When Grandpa dropped off Grandma, Brendan was sure to get some laptop time in.


Later Luke and Brendan teamed up to squish Grandma.


Luke had some trouble sleeping that night and then curled up with Grandma.


When Grandpa picked up Grandma, he apparently taught Luke how to eat his overalls.

That sums up most of the last two months or so, and I'll try to post a little more often now.

When Did That Happen?!

And HOW did I not notice? The other day Brendan started yelling and I realized that he had his bottom two-year molars. And it looked like they had been there for at least a week or so from the size of them. Somehow, I never noticed that he was cutting them... Weird. The top two haven't cut yet.
Saturday I made a felt board for Brendan. I cut out shapes (circles, squares and triangles) to start teaching him his shapes. I'm not sure how much he's learned yet, but he definitely LOVES the board and shapes! He gets so excited over putting the felt shapes up and then swiping them back off again. We were playing with it this afternoon and he tried to put his Hot Wheels car on the board. Oddly enough, it didn't stick as well as the shapes did. Hmmm...
Luke is growing fast. He's already up to about 13 1/2 pounds. We bought him a Bumbo Baby Sitter. It's a special seat that allows little babies to sit upright. He loves it, but can only sit in it for a little while at a time yet.