smarty pants [continued]

Blake got these letters in the mail from his great aunt Trudy. I tried to catch him saying his letters on video but he was too interested in the camera, but here's a little bit! We think he's pretty smart for being one and a half... but doesn't every parent think that!? =)

Chicago Day 2

Another great day in Chicago! Above is a picture of Michigan Avenue where we spent a lot of my birthday shopping.


Lunch at Ed Debevic's- a 50's style diner where the waiters and waitresses are supposed to be rude. It was hilarious!! Nolan got picked on quite a bit, I think the waitress called him a jerk 3 times while we were there. All in good fun...



An evening spent walking the Navy Pier.


Millennium Park, look closely and you can see the face is 'spitting' water out of his mouth. We sat and watched the faces and colors of the fountain both last night and again tonight. We head home tomorrow morning but sure have had a great time!!

and the answer is...

The hints that Nolan gave me about my birthday surprise led us to CHICAGO! We are staying at the Kimpton Allegro hotel in downtown Chicago! We are having a blast and enjoying our time together. Brenna came along with us, and Blake is enjoying a weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Glace!


This is the view from the top of the Sears Tower. It was amazing.


And you can't be in Chicago without eating the world famous Chicago style pizza. This pizza is from Giordano's Pizza, voted America's best pizza by NBC's Today Show... we agreed!!! Nolan plans on eating some of the leftovers for breakfast- I think I will stick with something a little lighter first thing in the morning! UGH! More pictures from day 2 tomorrow.

birthday hints

My birthday is on Saturday, the big 2-5! If you recall from last years birthday post, my husband is very good at planning my birthday celebration. He gave me a couple hints about what we will be doing for this years celebration and I figured it out, can you? (if I've already told you, don't ruin the surprise for others)

Hint #1: Allegro


__________________________________________________

If you can't figure it out from hint #1, here's the second...

Hint #2: Kimpton


I'm so excited, I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures to post after the weekend!!!

this weekend in pictures

We had a great weekend and I thought I would share it with you through pictures.



Friday night we went to a birthday party for one of Blake's little friends. It was at his grandparents farm and this is a picture of our family on the hay ride. Blake loved it, Brenna fell asleep.



Saturday we headed to my parents house. My sister Emily and her family were also there. Here is cousin Ellie holding Brenna.



Blake and Grandpa at the park.


Miss Brenna ready for church. Her Great Aunt Warrene sent her the pearl necklace. Adorable!

blake's toy envy...

Brenna's Toy:



Daddy's Toy:

new job

Well, I am officially going to be a Panther once again! I recently accepted a position at the University of Northern Iowa. One of my former professors contacted me a couple weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in coming on board with him at UNI. I was honored that kept me in mind several years after graduating and starting in the spring semester I will become Director of UNI's Kindergym program.

I will be instructing a class of college students, who will in turn will teach and instruct children, ages 2-5, once a week on various physical skills. I am thrilled to be back at UNI and excited to work with college students and children in a profession that I love!

Another great thing about my new position: I still get to be a stay at home mom, the greatest job of all! My position at UNI will take very limited time away from my family- who could ask for more?!

With that, I leave you all today by saying.... GO PANTHERS!

feeling loved

Here is a conversation I had with Blake yesterday after Nolan commented about how much Blake loves his milk:

Me: Blake you sure do love your milk, do you love your milk more than Mommy?
Blake: No
Me: (with a smirk on my face) Blake, Daddy or milk?
Blake's Reply: Mommy!

under the weather

Friday morning Blake woke up at 4:00 am crying and scared. I rushed into his room and noticed that he was burning up. I took his temperature and it was around 103 degrees and I could tell that he had the chills. Poor guy!! I gave him some tylenol and sent him back to bed.
Throughout the day on Friday he played well but still couldn't tackle the fever. It ran around 100 and 102 all day. By Friday afternoon I decided that I should get him into the doctor before the weekend rolled around. After many tears, a strep test, and a pricked finger it was determined that Blake had a viral infection. No medicine- just had to play it's course.


Today was a rough day. Blake just wasn't feeling well and didn't really know what to do with himself. No appetite, very cuddly (very unlike Blake) and satisfied just hanging out on the couch and watching football with dad.

BUT... after about five and a half hours of naps and plenty of rest throughout the day, he is feeling much better tonight- even eating some homemade pizza for supper. He played hard, splashed around in the tub, and is currently back in bed jabbering to himself.... back to the Blake we know and love! =)

This is our happy boy tonight- so glad he is feeling better! It's not fun when someone you love so much is sick and there isn't anything you can do to help. And no- Nolan didn't drool down the front of his shirt... he had just given Blake a bath and usually gets soaked!

two posts in one day!

I know, two posts in one day... crazy! I just couldn't leave out our precious little girl!

smarty pants

So, we think Blake is pretty smart... yes we are his parents and we are a little bias, but everyday we are amazed by how much he knows and how quickly he is able to learn things.

Yesterday I was helping him put his shoes on (they are sketchers) and he pointed to the side of his shoe and said 'S'. He knew that the letter on the side of his shoe was an S! He continues to say "S, S, S..." until I say "Yes, that is an S! Good job Blake" Now, he is only 18 months old but I decided to test him out on his letters. I went to the kitchen where we have alphabet magnets. He recognized several of the letters- O, B, S, K and so on....
He also recognizes his name- whenever he sees his name written out he knows exactly what it says!

He has a magnidoodle that we draw and write on- he now knows, recognizes, and says the following shapes: circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, star and arrow.

Aren't kids amazing...

weekend update... with mommy farwell

Our weekend started with a trip to Eldora Friday morning. The kids and I went to spend the day with Grandma Glace (my mom). Blake had a blast exploring in the woods, playing in the rocks and building a tent with Grandma out of the ping pong table and blankets. I even got to sneak off for a run around Pine Lake. It was wonderful!! I used to run around Pine Lake ALL the time throughout my middle school and high school years- it is a very comforting place for me. Friday night after my dad got home from work, we all headed out to a camp ground near the lake where my parent's chuch was having their All Church Retreat. I got to see many friends and many people were excited to meet Brenna for the first time. It was about 7:00 when I decided it was time to drive home to see my husband who had been golfing for the afternoon... but it was only Brenna and I who got in the car to come home. Blake got to stay the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa! FUN!

Our house is for sale right now and we decided to have an open house today. Much of the weekend was spent preparing for that but we also filled our weekend with spending quality one on one time with Brenna, watching a movie (very rare for us!), and canning some tomatoes from our garden. We made several jars of stewed tomatoes and homemade salsa!


We sure did miss Blake though... we missed how much he makes us laugh every single day! It was fun to see his face when he got home tonight- as I got a hug and kiss from him I could tell that he really did miss us even though he had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa. I felt so loved! After a riveting game of Ring Around the Rosie, we topped off the night with some homemade peach frozen yogurt- yum! A fun weekend in the books... hope yours was just as enjoyable!


Blake loves ravioli... can you tell?!

giggle girl

We took this video while Nolan's parents were here last weekend. What a happy little girl!

'bermpa and bermma'

Grandma and Grandpa Farwell visited this weekend. We had a great time! Here is Brenna on the blanket that Grandma made for her- she is even making a doll blanket to match! Brenna was a bit of a stinker this weekend while her Grandparents were here- she definitely was having a 'Mommy Only' weekend. She didn't want to be held by anyone but me... which made for limited cuddle time with Grandma and Grandpa.


















Blake had all sorts of fun while they were visiting- so much fun that he never wanted to take a nap! I think he was worried he was missing out on all the fun. He's taking a long nap this morning- hopefully catching up on missed sleep. This is Grandma and Blake. He liked to look at the pictures on her camera. The story behind the missing clothes... Blake had just spent some time in the pool and had yet to get his clothes on.


















Boys and their football....

Nolan had his fantasy football live draft last night and this is a picture of all the boys huddled around the computer hoping to get the best picks of the night.