Why?

Why doesn't my baby look like me?

Oh well, he sure is cute!

Saturday

Today Gabe, Andrew and I went to Boone Iowa to the 'Day Out With Thomas'. We rode the train that Thomas was pulling and that's about it! Gabe was really good but there was a ton of people there and it was too hard for me to keep track of Gabe without another adult to help with Andrew. In spite of cutting it short I think Gabe had fun.








Bath time tonight. It was the first time they took a bath together. Andrew was actually laughing at Gabe - it was the first time I heard a real laugh from Andrew...

Me & My Boys

Gabe right before bed tonight. He came out to give Andrew and I a kiss goodnight. He then says "don't let the bug beds bite" (that's not a typo) and "sweet dreams".

Andrew likes a good book.

He fell asleep while I was making the cookies (see below).

Cute!

This is how my good boy smiled at me about 1000 times tonight! I love my baby!

A Cookie Attempt

I am not a cook. I like to bake. I wanted to make 'double chocolate espresso cookies' that were in our church cookbook.

• The first sign of trouble was that I bought all the ingredients before I had Andrew (well not the eggs... you know what I mean) and just got around to it tonight.
  
• The next sign of trouble came when there was no sugar listed in the ingredients but sugar was discussed in the instructions.
  
• The 3rd sign came when it took 3 phone calls to find out how much sugar to use.... and I quote "well I put a whole basket of correction slips in the church office..." (obviously I don't have one or I wouldn't be calling you!).
  
• The 4th sign of trouble came when beating the eggs and they didn't get "thick and lemon in color".
  
• And the 5th sign came when I tried to take this batch off the cookie sheet...........

(yes that's a pile of undercooked cookies)

This is the second batch which was slightly better than the 1st (cooked 2 minutes longer)...
Overall the cookies taste pretty good but they were almost impossible to get off the cookie sheet (do I need nonstick? more grease?). I'm not sure I'll ever make them again.

In Memory....

Today the memorial garden and walking path were dedicated at the high school. Pastor Raether did most of the presentation and, as always, was fantastic.

Brooke was a member of our church and best friend of Gabe & Andrew's babysitter Sara. She died last year as a result of injuries from a car accident. She would be a junior this year.
BKD = Brooke Dreyer
JRR = Jordan Robinson - he would be a senior this year and passed away shortly after Brooke.
LDD = Lisa Darling - she would be a freshman this year - she passed away last spring - her dad is the superintendent of the Humboldt schools and her mom is a fellow pharmacist.

As part of the memorial garden you could purchase engraved bricks in memory of a child that died or as any kind of memorial you wanted. I decided to have 2 bricks made....

One in memory of the baby we lost....

and the other in memory of the baby my parents lost. Note his birth and death date -- it is the same day as Andrew's birthday. I think I would have given Andrew the same middle name (Lee) had I realized their birthday was the same.

My boys and I in the gazebo at the memorial garden. It was perfect weather for the dedication and everyone who had a brick engraved got a flower and bracelet that says 'Remembering our Angels'. They had a balloon release and Gabe thought that was great. He kept saying "let's go check on the balloons"!

I know this is a depressing post but it is so important to remember those who have gone before us and to never forget!

I LOVE MY BOYS!!!

This evening my boys cuddled in Gabe's bed and told each other stories about the farm.

Actually Gabe got mad that Andrew was in his bed and I had to bribe him with a cookie to get these pictures!

Love it...

Our Weekend....

We had a great weekend relaxing at home in Iowa!

It felt like a weekend I imagined my life would be like when I was younger.... Relaxing time, cooking & eating with my family, playing outside, washing the car, splashing in puddles, playing at the playground, going out for ice cream. And a bit of work mixed in to keep us honest and appreciative of our time together.

My buddy Andrew showing off in his Bumbo seat. About 2 minutes after this his head slumped over to the side and rested there. It's hard work to hold up that noggin! By the way - his sleeper is a size 6 MONTHS!! I hate that! He's supposed to stay little forever.

My baby and I tried to take a rest together today. We didn't get too much sleeping done but he sure is fun to cuddle.

Gabe fell asleep Sunday afternoon on his McQueen couch. The angle of the picture is bad but take my word for it - he looked cute!

The true look-alike

This is who Andrew really looks like:

His Daddy!!!

Look alike?

Many people say that Andrew looks like Gabe. I agree there are some similarities. Here's Gabe on Easter Sunday, 2007. He was approx. the same age as Andrew is now (see pictures below).

Happy Anniversary!

This post is in honor of Jill & Craig's 5th wedding anniversary today!

Happy Anniversary!

Baby Bison

Andrew got dressed up for the big Cyclone-Bison match-up tonight!