Already?

My newest baby is five months old. Yep, already. I have been putting off this post because, really, what can you say? She is no longer my grumpy lumpy kind of baby. She sits and plays with toys, reads manuals and puts together Ikea furniture. Stuff regular babies do. She gives me that look of sheer boredom if she's not being challenged or entertained enough to meet her standards. Which are pretty high. I mean, she is my kid... She is at that age where she gets more fun every day. Her newest trick is the removal of her socks. She thinks her bare toes are awsome. Who can blame her? They're pretty cute toes! So, for now we are just trying to enjoy the new emerging personality. Embrace her independence and hope for the best. It doesn't help the my other baby is going to be three years old next week. There is too much independence being had by my children right now. Both fun and scary for mom. I try not to think about it too much, I tend to get weepy.

Guess where we went!

If you guessed Chuck E. Cheese, then you would be absolutely correct! Jacob wanted this cup and I thought it was funny, so my mom bought it for him. Such a lucky boy! We ate pizza and cotton candy, played numerous games and picked prizes! How else would one choose to spend their Saturday evening?

We finished setting up the kid's room. Emrick's crib shall remain in our bedroom until further notice. The bunk bed is up and the dressers are full. Decorations on the walls. It's very simple and beautiful. I may or may not post pictures at some point. I also rearranged the living room and dining room a tad. It was a bit of work, but totally worth it! We got a new night stand next to our bed. Funny how little changes can make such a big difference!

We had Jacob's picture taken today. I have all sizes, just let me know what you need! No one contacted me about Emrick's pictures so I have taken to handing them out to strangers on the street. Not true, but it could be slightly entertaining. I am planning to get family pictures done soon. September at the latest. I kind of want Emrick to be able to sit up by herself for family pictures. She is getting really close! Close enough that she was buckled into the front of the cart at Target today and rode with no problem! I sit her on the floor with her Boppy pillow around her and she sits fine, until she decides to attack her feet or dig her heels into the rug and throw herself backwards. She is a very spontaneous kind of baby. Can you believe she will be five months old tomorrow? Wait for a post on that...

Lucky

Today while driving home from my parent's house, Jacob and Emrick were in the back in their car seats laughing hysterically at each other. And I thought to myself, how lucky am I to be able to experience this? What a beautiful thing, the giddy laughter of my children.

Strike a Pose, Baby!

Emrick posing nicely for a picture with her new Hawkeyes T-shirt. I love her chubby chubby baby thighs and take every opportunity I get to show them off with mini skirts! I'm sure she'll appreciate it when she gets bigger. But really, what an adorable baby! Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about Jacob. He just doesn't lend himself to photography very well.

We have been busy around here, but getting absolutely nothing done. That's pretty much the story of my life. I went through the kids' closet and cleaned out all the clothes that don't fit any more and put all of the clothes for them to grow into into neatly labeled storage totes. Dishes, laundry, and general house tidying has become overly consuming. The second it gets done, Jacob or Burger goes and undoes it. I am getting used to dealing with it.

A video and some pictures

Emrick making a funny face! What a ham!

Emrick in her new hat! I bought it at Old Navy the other day. I know it's a bit early for hats of the winter sort, but it was too stinkin' cute to just leave at the store!!

I took this video a week ago, but never posted it here. It is on my facebook, however.
So glad today is Friday! We had a really great week, very relaxing and pretty easy going. Jacob has been behaving himself like a rock star and Emrick seems to be in a better mood most of the time now! Yay! We haven't got any concrete plans for this weekend. Just excited to have Burger home to hang out with.

Are you guys tired of seeing pictures of my kids yet?

All on a Wednesday Morning

Yesterday evening we went to Carlos'O'Kelley's with my dad and had dinner. When we got home we had some surprise company that was very pleasant! If any of you read this, thanks for visiting and come again anytime! Today we are waiting for Megan to bring her little boy to play with us while she moves into her new apartment. Should be an entertaining day.

I woke up in kind of a grumpy mood. I was up twice last night with Emrick and she just wasn't tired last night. She wanted to play and be entertained. Sorry kid, not at one o'clock in the morning! Jacob made his way into our bed at five this morning. Not sure what's up with that. He's been doing that for the past couple weeks now. I usually make him go back to his own bed, but at five in the morning we only have forty-five more minutes to sleep so I just let him stay there. I'm a little groggy and my head hurts a bit. We'll see how this day plays out.

Tranquil

Yesterday was a very quiet and relaxing day. Emrick slept like crazy and only woke up to snarf down bottles of formula and bowls of baby rice cereal mixed with sweet potatoes from a Gerber baby jar. Perhaps tomorrow I will wake up to find a toddler girl in the crib with ripped clothes like The Hulk. She will probably be asking me to point her in the directions of the nearest Burger King so she can get her fry on...

Jacob loved the zoo and keeps saying that he's going back on a different day. Plans are in the making for a trip to the aquarium in the Mall of America. I was thinking this weekend but Burger was thinking next weekend so we would have a boring weekend in between our zoo and aquarium visits. Yes, he thinks about things like that, and is almost always the voice of reason in this house.

Today, so far, is relaxing and calm. I don't think it will stay that way for long, though. Right now Emrick is asleep in her swing and Jacob is watching a Thomas video. We are getting ready for his birthday party, which will be August 2 in the afternoon. Right now we are planning on having it at the park, but nothing is final yet besides the date. He still really wants a Thomas cake, so I'm sure that's what we'll have! I should go get some important mom things done before the kids decide to freak out, both at exactly the same time, I'm sure. We have a new consignment shop down the way from us and I have been thinking of going there for weeks but haven't made it yet. So, I was thinking that for today and most likely a trip to Hy-Vee. Did you know that you can buy Avent bottles for $5.49 at Hy-Vee still? At all the other stores that sell Avent they are priced $9.99 or above. What a rip off.

A Day at the Zoo!

Emrick in her stroller. This is where she hung out most of the day!

Burger and Jacob 'mining' for gems.

Jacob sitting in the aquarium window. It took him a while to smile for this picture.

Jacob really liked the fish section of the zoo. As you can see, he was moments away from joining them in the tank.

Jacob and Burger in front of the giraffes. I think it looks like Jacob is holding it in his hand! Haha! We had a nice day at the zoo. It sprinkled a little, but that kept the humidity down for a while! We watched a bird trainer's show. Well, Jacob ran in the rain while I supervised and Burger and Emrick watched the bird show. Oh well, birds freak me out anyhow.

Hard Times

The past couple days have been really rough in the Oldenburger home. Emrick has been grumpy grumpy grumpy and Jacob as hyper as ever. Fun times for mom! This morning was horrible so we went on a car ride and ended up at Grandma Hild's house with two sleeping children. We hung out there for the rest of the day and had an enjoyable time. On Tuesday we went and had Emrick's pictures taken and got a couple good shots even though she was the grumpiest baby ever. I think that studio took our name down and will ban us from ever bringing our children back! Oh well. I now have pictures of her to hand out, so just let me know what size you need! We have all sizes ready to go. Jacob's birthday is in about four weeks, so we are gearing up for his party. He wants a Thomas the Tank Engine cake. Again. I am trying to talk him into Cars, so we'll see what happens! Both kids are in bed now and Burger and I are enjoying some pina colodas then it's bed time for us. Hopefully tomorrow goes better than today. This weekend I am helping my friend Megan have a garage sale so the kids will be with Burger all day Saturday. Hope he has fun with that!

Fourth of July Photo Review

Emrick and Jacob waiting for the fireworks to begin!

Emrick in her Fourth of July dress! It was freakishly cold outside which is the reason for the long sleeves and leggings. Still cute, though!

Jacob and Emrick ready for the Fourth. Jacob's Fourth of July outfit was shorts and a tank top so he didn't get to wear it, it was too cold!

Burger and Emrick. Taken July 2nd, but I think it's adorable so I had to share it!

Jacob and his new cow rain boots! They were on sale at Target and he loves them more than anything! He has hardly taken them off, unless I make him. I think it's a riot! I mean, what's cuter than a kid in rain boots? All in all, we enjoyed our Fourth of July. We were rather busy but we did get to go see the fireworks. I think the kids enjoyed themselves, and that's the important thing!

Short and Sweet

I don't think it's any secret that I have had a much harder time adjusting to Emrick than I did with Jacob. Probably more for the fact that there are two of them, and it's hard to make two people happy at the same time! But also, Emrick is a finicky personality and kind of difficult to entertain. I have certainly had my days where I questioned our parenting decisions. What parent doesn't? But last night at dinner, with Emrick sitting in her high chair right up there in between Jacob and myself, I had the mommy moment I have kind of been waiting for since I got a positive sign on that pee stick. Emrick was chewing on her pink hippo's ear and I asked her if she was telling it secrets. Jacob thought that was ludicrous and hilarious. He was laughing his butt off, Emrick was laughing her butt off, and I was laughing my butt off. With tears in my eyes. Because that is exactly what my kids are supposed to feel like. Perfect giggles.