August videos

Deanna Rose and losing James

We recently enjoyed Deanna Rose Farmstead with our friends Rachel and Evalana. James loved seeing all the animals, riding the tractors and playing on the playground. We had a great morning until I thought I lost James at the big slide. He went around a corner that I was fenced in and when I realized it wasn't I couldn't find him. It seemed like forever that I couldn't find him, but it was maybe 5 minutes. Thankfully, Rachel was able to stay with Blake while I ran around searching for James like a crazy Mama! When I got back to the slide area and was about to go to the entrance to report him missing he mysteriously appeared at the base of the slide. I have no idea where he was during that time, but I was just glad to have him back!

Jack's birthday at Chuck E Cheese

We all celebrated Jack's 10th birthday at at Chuck E Cheese. Saying that James loved it is a MAJOR understatement. I think he enjoyed himself more than the birthday boy! He sang the Happy Birthday song the whole way home!

Brotherly love

Of course it would have been fun to have a little girl this time around, but I'm so happy that James and Blake will get to grow up as brothers. Todd was especially happy since he and his brother Justin are 2 years apart and have always been close. From the first week we brought Blake home James has been such a good "big" brother to his "lil" brother. He enjoys keeping him warm by covering him with blankets, giving him lots of hugs/kisses, talking "baby talk" with him, laying on his activity mat with him, showing him all of his cars/trains/trucks, and the list goes on. I can already tell Blake looks up to his big brother too! He always tries to stay awake when James is around and is always following his voice. So far this is working out great as Blake just cat naps in the mornings and then takes a long nap in the afternoon while James is sleeping. I love my boys so much!

Cool morning at the park

We met James' friends Molly and Morgan at the park to celebrate Molly turning 2! It was an unseasonable cool summer day and was perfect for playing at the park

The 3 TWO year olds!

Enjoying the swings

Blake in his adorable "rock star" outfit!

More snacks please!

The Zoo

We went to the zoo last week with our friends Jenny and Molly. I always seem to pick warm days to go to the zoo. Other than the heat we had a great time and got to check out the new polar bear exhibit.

My "little animals" are ready to go!

James got really close to the giraffe

Maybe a little too close to the giraffe...

James and Molly. Poor things look really HOT and tired!

The polar bear that we got to see swimming. They are much bigger than I was expecting them to be.

Blake enjoyed just hanging in the stroller for most of our visit. He got a little fussy towards the end of our visit so we were all glad to get in the car with the A/C on!

More pictures of Akane

Akane is on her way home to Japan today. She had a wonderful stay in South Dakota and I know that the Stemsruds will miss her. I am posting some more pictures so that her parents can see her. They were very trusting to send their 12 girl to the US to a family they had never met. I'm sure they are missing her very much! Akane, we loved getting to meet you and we hope you are able to come back and visit some day!!

2 months

Blake, You are 2 months old! Where did the last 2 months go? It has gone by so fast. We have been on the go so much and you have slept away from home just as much as you have in your own house. You have been one flexible guy so far and we are so grateful. You are becoming more and more alert everyday, but you still sleep quite a bit. You are eating every 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours during the day. At night you are sleeping from 9-10 to 2-3 am and then you wake around 5-7am, but your Mama is anxious to start working on sleeping longer stretches at night now that we are home from our travels. You are now sleeping in your crib at night. The only thing that seems to bother you is your spit ups. You are a big spit up baby, but once it is out of your system you are a very happy guy. We took you to the doctor for your 2 month check up and you weighed in at 13 lbs 8 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. That is a 1/2 lbs bigger than your older brother at the same age, but you were exactly the same length. Speaking of big brothers, you love when James plays with you! You get the biggest grins. I can tell you two are going to be best buds!