James goes to the dentist

James had his first dental visit today. He did really well the entire time. We went to an office that specializes in pediatrics so everyone was very kid friendly. Our hygentist's name was Rachel. She did such a good job explaining everything and was really patient with James. He loved getting to press all the buttons for the chair to go up and down.

Checking out the cleaning tools
Counting and cleaning teeth! James picked "cookie dough" for his cleaning flavor!
Everything looked great according to Rachel and Dr Lopez!
James finished his visit riding on the office mascot!

Meet the teacher

Today was "meet the teacher" at We Care. I can't believe that it is already the beginning of another school year. This is James' 4th year at We Care! As soon as we walked in Blake's toddler room he got a sad look on his face. It is the same room he has been going to for Sunday school and he cries every time. He was really unsure the first few minutes and assumed his usually position of left thumb in mouth, right hand stroking his hair.
He warmed up quickly and started exploring his new room.
Blake will have Ms Eshelle(pictured below and James' teacher at the same age) and Ms Angie in the mornings and Ms Julie in the afternoons. I know they will take great care of him!
Next we checked out James' new classroom. He is "big man" on campus this year!
James meeting his teacher Ms Carrie. James is also in class with some of the same kids from last year including Macie, Chase and Lydia.
James was a little shy at first but warmed up when he saw all of the toys.
I think it is going to be a great year!

Blake's 1st haircut

Blake had his first haircut last night. I was sad to say goodbye to some of his baby curls, but he had some major wings going on along with bangs in his eyes. We compromised and just cut the top and sides. We left the curls in back for now. Here is his before picture.

Very serious

Being such a good boy on Daddy's lap!

Starting to look like a big boy!

I couldn't believe how well he did.

"Are we done yet?"

First day of school

Todd started his 11th first day of school today! The boys got to have breakfast with daddy before he went on his way. We hope you had a great day!

Blake the monkey

Blake is becoming quite the climber and dare devil! He can now pull out and climb on the chairs from the kitchen table.

He has also discovered how to climb out of his highchair. I'm mad at myself for cutting out the straps that the highchair came with. They were getting disgusting and just in the way. James never climbed out of the highchair, but Blake is a lot more daring!

This morning Blake and James were playing in his crib while I was getting things done. Up until now, this has been a "safe place" for the boys to play together. Blake piled up all the toys/stuffed animals and fell out. I heard a loud thump, thought it was probably James, but was shocked to see Blake on the floor. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself and was smiling and running 1 minute later. Time to lower the crib!

Step Aerobics

Pushing Blake and the truck

Blake thought it would be fun to climb in the dump truck, then James thought it would be fun to push Blake around the house in the dump truck. This kept them busy and happy for a long time!

Birthday weekend part 3

After a relaxing morning at Jerry and Joan's we spent a few hours Sunday afternoon on Lake Minnewaska. We would love to have a cabin there... Maybe someday! In the meantime we enjoyed the public beach and got a boat ride from Todd's cousin Jeffrey.




Sunday evening we headed back to the farm. We got some good Grandpa and Grandma pictures. It is hard to catch Steve NOT working so we snapped a few in between chores.


We also celebrated Todd's 33rd birthday with some famous Grandma Orpha cake! Thanks to Justin for the delicious cake! We really enjoyed it!


Happy Birthday to the BEST Dad and husband. We love you!

Birthday weekend part 2

We had a full and fun Saturday in Minnesota. We started our day by driving to visit Grandma Rose(Robin's mom).

From there we headed to Clara City for a quick lunch in the park!

From there we visited Grandpa Warren who recently moved into a nursing home.

We had a nice visit and even got in a card game.
Next we headed to Sibley state park for a few hours of lake time.
Brothers!
Good friends!
After the beach we headed to Jerry and Joan's(Todd's Uncle and Aunt) house for a big barbeque to celebrate Joan's birthday. We had so much fun, but didn't stop to take many pictures.


James loved the gator and tractor!

Blake too!


The boys also had their first trampoline experience!

Birthday weekend part 1

We headed up to SD/MN for Todd's 33rd birthday celebration on Thursday morning. It was a LONG day in the car and 11 hours of travel. We expected one detour due to the floods but not two. We were still surprised how badly everything was flooded. It was so sad to see entire towns under water.

We also had to make frequent potty stops for James and stopped to eat lunch and dinner. We made it to Sioux Falls and decided to eat at Granite City Brewery! We brought Gillian with us on the trip and she was a big help with the boys. She sat in the back of the car with James and kept both boys entertained.

Blake was so happy to get out of the car and eat!

Friday morning Gillian was up bright and early(before us) to see the horses.

The Stemsruds recently got 2 horses for the farm and Gillian couldn't wait to see them.

Gillian and Tatiana enjoyed riding around the farm.

Meanwhile, James and Shawn played with tractors

and picked tomatoes and carrots from the garden.

Cleaning the carrots with Grandma

This little guy got lots of cuddles from Grandma too!

Friday afternoon we headed to the Watertown waterpark which was a TON of fun!!! We spent a lot of time chasing Blake around. Thank goodness for all the helpful hands!

James was on the go the whole afternoon!

He especially loved the slides. Todd and I took multiple trips down the slide with James!