Holiday Baking!

Madison and I really enjoyed baking together this holiday season. We made Puppy Chow, Cut-out Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Peanut Butter Balls, and Scotcheroos.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

The kids had so much fun decorating the Christmas tree. I handed out the non-breakable ornaments to the kids, and I couldn't keep up with how fast they were coming back for more. At the same time, Mike tried to hang the breakable ornaments up high, so we would have some ornaments at the top of the tree. Needless to say, we do seem to have a lot more ornaments at the bottom of the tree. When we were all done, the kids asked if they could put more on tomorrow :)

November

The first weekend in November I spent in St. Paul visiting Erin and scrapbooking. We scrapbooked from 9 in the morning until 11 at night. Lets just say we were determined! While I was there, Mike spent the beautiful Saturday taking the kids to the NEW zoo.

The second weekend in November we had the opportunity to accompany Mike to a work conference at the Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells. During his break from the conference, we enjoyed the three indoor water parks at our hotel.

The third weekend in November, Madison and I got invited to Sesame Street Live with our friends Faye and Haven. I was very nervous that Madison would be scared, because she is afraid of adults in costume and we had front row seats! She was a little scared at first, but as the show went on her tensions eased. I have to say that I also really enjoyed the show!

The last weekend in November brought Thanksgiving and lots of family time. On Thanksgiving, we spent a relaxing day at home and had dinner at Romy's with Mike, Amy, Claire, and my Grandma. Friday morning, Lisa, Jana, and I hit the Black Friday sales, and in the afternoon, we headed up to my parent's cottage. Sunday we came back home to have a Thanksgiving meal with the Van Handel family at my grandma's house.

Carving Pumpkins

One of our Halloween traditions is carving pumpkins. I have great memories of carving pumpkins as a family when I was a kid, and I would love my kids to have those same memories. Madison did great gutting the pumpkins, but Noah was a little more cautious. He did have fun playing with the insides one they were in the bucket. We let both kids draw a face on their pumpkin, and then we cut them out. Mike is the king of creative pumpkins, and this year he decided to create a Mickey Mouse, since it is a favorite of both kids.

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Halloween Party at the Little Gym

Madison attends a gymnastics and dance class at the Little Gym, and this Halloween they threw a party. The party included games, tumble trampoline, obstacle course, crafts, and goodies. Both kids really enjoyed the obstacle course and tumble trampoline. Madison built a pumpkin art project while Noah enjoyed pumpkin bowling.

Mulberry Lane Farms

We made our annual trip to Mulberry Lane Farms on a very, very cold day, but once again, the kids didn't seem to notice. At least the wind was blocked by the buildings most of the time. The kids enjoyed riding the ponies, petting the animals, and taking a hay ride. Noah got to ride his first pony, and I was disappointed I didn't get a good picture of it. He was also obsessed with riding the tractors that are parked around the farm.

Cavanaugh's Carriages

Madison's first field trip of the year was to Cavanaugh's Carriages in Neenah. Grandparents were invited to attend the field trip in honor of Grandparent's Day. Madison was very lucky, because Grandpa Dennis, Great Grandma, and Grandma Sue were all able to go on the field trip with her and Mike. Unfortunately, the day was very cold and windy, but the kids didn't seem to notice. They learned about animals and got to pet them, took a hayride, and picked gourds.

DS Awareness Walk at the Milwaukee Zoo

This was our first trip to the Milwaukee Zoo with the kids. They love animals, and we had a great time enjoying the zoo before the walk began. The Down Syndrome Awareness Walk began right after lunch, and it's path was through the zoo. It gave us the opportunity to see the animals we didn't get a chance to see in the morning.

Grandparent's Day

We celebrated Grandparent's Day by having my parents, grandma, brother, sister-in-law, and niece over for dinner.

My mom and dad with their three grandchildren.

My grandma with the "girls"!

Noah the Imitator!

Noah loves to watch and imitate us. He goes into the bathroom and sits on the potty. Then he gets toilet paper and pretends to wipe. After he is done, he gets up on the stool to wash his hands. He has figured out this whole routine on his own. I hope this leads up to early potty training! We deserve an easy kid after having to potty train Madison.

Earlier this week, we had corn on the cob. For Noah, I cut the corn off the cob and gave it to him. He realized that the rest of us weren't eating it that way and pointed to a cob that he wanted one. We thought we would give it a try, and he amazed us! He ate over half the cob.

Today, he watched Mike adjust the refrigerator. He requested his own tool and joined right in to help.

Art!

Madison loves to make art projects. We have a whole cupboard full of crayons, markers, stamps, paints, colored paper, etc... Surprisingly, Noah has also picked up interest in art. He use to just ignore what Madison was doing, but now he gets all excited to join right in when I get out the art supplies. Here are some pictures from art time.

We have been busy!

So I haven't had a chance to blog in awhile, but I am back to catch up. We started out July by heading to my parent's cottage for the 4th of July weekend.

Noah loved playing in the sand and water.

We had lots of birthdays in July, including Jana's 22nd birthday, Lucas' 1st bithday, and Mike's 30th birthday.

We started out August by helping Jackson celebrate his 1st birthday and attending the wedding of a good friend of Mike and I's from college. I also celebrated my 30th birthday. Mid-month we went to visit our friends Tamra, Jason, and Callie in Madison.

Noah's 1st Birthday

On Friday, Noah turned 1 year old. In the morning, we went to his 12 month doctor's appointment. Then in the afternoon, we finally got to try out our new pool. We had a wonderful afternoon enjoying the weather. We swam, played in the play house and sandbox, and used the water table, kiddie pool, and sprinkler. In other words, we were very busy. Once Mike got home from work, we headed to our favorite Mexican restraunt for dinner. Noah loves mexican food! They even sang to him in Spanish! We were all pretty tired after our afternoon in the sun, but we stopped for a litte play time at the park before heading home for bed.

Noah's 12 Month Checkup

On Friday, Noah had his 12 month checkup. The appointment confirmed my suspicion that Noah's growth has slowed way down. His weight was 23 lbs 9 oz (67%), and his height was 29.5 inches (42%). He only gained 1 lb and 6 oz and grew 1.25 inches in the last three months.

Father's Day - Sunday, June 21st

We started out celebrating this special day by giving Mike his gifts. Each of the kids made Mike a stepping stone. I am so thankful Jana was able to help them make them while we were at work, so we were able to surprise Mike. After I made pancakes for breakfast, we headed off to Bay Beach Amusement Park. The park was so empty, and we rarely had to wait to get on the rides. Madison really enjoys all of the rides, and it was Noah's first time on rides. He really enjoyed them, especially if there was a steering wheel. In the evening, we took my dad out to dinner with my entire family, and then headed off to the baseball diamonds to watch my brother and sisters play baseball.

Noah's 1st Birthday Party - Saturday, June 20th

On Saturday, June 21st, we held Noah's 1st Birthday Party. It was one of our first hot and humid days of the summer. After lunch, we broke out the water table and kiddie pool to help keep the kids cool. They all seemed to have a great time! Noah did not let us down when it came to eating his cake. He was successful in getting it every where, and he enjoyed eating it along the way. The one nice thing about having the party outside was we wheeled him right outside and hosed down the highchair and Noah. We are very thankful for all the friends and family that were able to celebrate with us. Special thanks to my friend Mel http://melaniephotography.net/ for capturing this moment!

Breakfast on the Farm - Sunday, June 14th

On Sunday, June 14th, we went to the Outagamie County Breakfast on the Farm. It is such a great, inexpensive event for families! We once again got there right when it opened, so we would beat the rush. Sometimes I am thankful the kids get up so early, so we can beat the rush to major events. The first thing we did was enjoy a breakfast of eggs, ham, hashbrowns, cheese, cheese curds, and a cinnamon roll. It was only $6 for adults, and kids four and under were free! That was a lot of food for only $12! Anyways, after breakfast, we checked out the calves on the way to the hayride. After the hayride, we headed over to the kid's activites. Madison got her hand painted, went on the inflatable slide, and climbed through the inflatable obstacle course. Next, we checked out the petting animals (llamas, billy goats, ponies, and alpacas) and took a tour of a firetruck. Then we took the kids for a walk through a cow barn. The kids were getting tired, so we enjoyed our ice cream and posed for a picture on the classic tractors before heading out.

Beja Shrine Circus - Saturday, June 13th

On Saturday, June 13th, we went to the Beja Shrine Circus. I got buy one get one free tickets from work, so we thought we would check it out. Before the show began, Madison rode the ponies. Mike and I were trying to convince her to ride the elephant, but that was a little scary for her. I was shocked at how well both kids sat through the first half of the show (45 minutes). There were in aww with the animals and performers. After the intermission, Noah got a little antsy, so Mike took him to the lobby so he could walk around. When the elephants came out, Noah thought he could run right out and pet them, and he was so mad that Mike wouldn't let him. I swear that kid has no fear.

NEW Zoo - Saturay, June 6th

We started out our summer fun at the NEW Zoo for free day on June 6th. Our goal was to be there as soon as it opened to beat the crowd, and we were glad we did. We enjoyed the zoo from 9 until 11, and we were able to leave before the rain and the rush. On our way out we saw cars parked on both sides of the road for at least a two mile radius, and the traffic was backed up all the way to the highway which was about 8 miles away. The kids had a blast, and they were both very excited about the animals. We got to see the giraffes during feeding time, which meant we actually got to pet them. We had good luck getting to see almost all of the animals.

Madison and Dad pose in front of the lions.

Noah checks out the moose.

Noah is walking!

Noah started walking on Monday, which was one day before he was eleven months old. Madison started walking at exactly eleven months, and I think it is so fun that Noah started walking at the same time. There has been no stopping Noah since he decided to start walking, and I can't believe how far he can go without falling. He is sooo cute as he toddles around! Here is our favorite video.

Fun at Memorial Park

On a beautiful Sunday, we got to spend some wonderful family time together at Memorial Park playground.

Books

Madison has always loved books, however it has been hard to hold Noah's interest in even the single work books. He just tries to grab them away and chew on them. On Friday, Madison decided she was going to read all of our books, and Noah decided to join her. It was so cute to see him next to her, look through the books, and talk like he was reading the books.

Noah's Walking Progress

Noah is obsessed with walking. He cruizes along anything... the furniture, walls, etc. He tries to turn anything into a walker, since he is still cautious to try to walk on his own. Here he is pushing the rocking horse to walk into the kitchen.

New Toy!

Last weekend, we spent our rainy Sunday afternoon at Rick & Betsy's house. Betsy got out some of the toys that Jacob had outgrown for Noah to play with. Madison and Noah loved the Elmo tool bench so much, they let us take it home. The kids have been obsessed with it ever since. Both kids love dancing to the songs.