WE'RE BACK!!!!

We're Back!!!! I know it's been awhile. Here is our first post of many to come.

 Karter just turned 2 this week. Can't believe it! Here are a few of the pics. This is his actual birthday. We had cupcakes and presents. He was so excited about the cupcake and then wouldn't eat it. He is so not like me. Ha Ha.

Here are Karter, Kade and Noelle at Karter's birthday party.  Karter was too busy blowing out the candles to look at the camera.  He was actually successful and blew the candle out this time.

And here is the birthday boy about 5 minutes after everyone left.  He was totally pooped!

Buffalo Wild Wings Outing

Nate, Karter and I recently went to MN for me to take a class. One night while we were there we all went out to BWW. Here are Peyton, Olivia and Karter right before we left.

Peyton and Karter immediately reached out to hold hands when we put their chairs together. It was very cute!

First snow this year

We got our first snow of the year in late November. Noelle was so excited that she snuck out of the house to go play in it. She also had to eat the snow! Of course it didn't stick around very long and that was very upsetting for the kiddos!

Painting Ornaments for Grandpa

This year the kids decorated ornaments for the Christmas tree for my dad's birthday gift. Here they are painting the ornaments. Yes I even let Karter get crazy with paint!

Trick or Treat

This year we were the Smurfs for Halloween. Kade was Jokey, Noelle was Smurfette, and Karter was Baby Smurf. I made their costumes this year. They loved being the Smurfs.

Here are Kade and Noelle at the Halloween Parade Penny Carnival in Amboy.

The Smurfs won a prize for their costumes this year. They were very excited.

Noelle and Kade trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa Stenzel.

Kade, Karter and Noelle trick or treating with Great Grandma Gehant.

Trick or Treat at Grandma and Grandpa Girton's house.

Picking Pumpkins

Here are Kade, Noelle and Karter getting pumpkins this year for Halloween.

Karter picking his pumpkin.

Kade and Noelle with their pumpkins.

Noelle, Nate and Kade carving pumpkins. The kids wouldn't take the insides out of the pumpkins without gloves...sissies!

Kade with his carved pumpkin.

Noelle with her carved pumpkin.

I can sit up!!

Last Sunday Karter started sitting up all by himself. He will now sit for a long time and play with his toys. He is very proud of himself.

Kade reading Karter

The other morning we were getting ready to go and I found Kade and Karter reading the fishing magazines. Kade was showing Karter all the Muskies!

Drinkin' my juice:)

We have started having Karter drink his juice out of a sippy cup instead of a bottle. He isn't that great at it! I think he spills more than he drinks, but he is trying.

Kade's 5!!!

Can't believe Kade is 5 already. This year we did the marathon of birthday parties. We had cupcakes on his actual birthday in Amboy after Depot Days Carnival. Then we had a brunch in Amboy while Chris, Kristin, Olivia and Peyton were home. Then finally we finished our tour at Grandma and Grandpa Girton's.
Here's the birthday boy with shark cupcakes.

Birthday brunch at Grandma and Grandpa Stenzel's house. Here are all the cousins-Peyton, Olivia, Kade, Noelle and Karter.

Opening presents at our house.

Kade's birthday breakfast...pancakes, eggs and bacon.

Kade with his shark cake. This cake was all he could talk about for weeks! Wasn't sure I could pull it off, definitely challenged my skills:)

Opening birthday presents at Grandma and Grandpa Girton's.

School Days

Can't believe it is time for school again. Kade started Kindergarten this year and Noelle started Pre-K.

Here's Kade by his locker at orientation night.

First day of school.

Since he is in Kindergarten this year, the bus comes and picks him up @ 6:40 am. Since we all know what a morning person I am, we all know how fun it is to get up and ready!

First day of Pre-K. She is loving school.

Noelle in class doing her preschool screening.

Busted:)

Just went in to check on Karter during his nap and found this. OMG!!! Another thumb sucker? Hopefully not. This explains him self-soothing at night without the pacifier!

Karter's eating cereal

We started cereal with Karter last week. Here he is sitting in his brand new high chair, thank you to everyone at work for that!!! He is not sure what is about to happen.

He was so different from Kade and Noelle. He really didn't want anything to do with the cereal and they were just the opposite! He only ate about 5 bites total.

He kept making the funniest faces like I was feeding him the nastiest tasting stuff ever. The cereal is actually pretty sweet, not sure what the faces were about.

He just wanted to put his fingers in his mouth and play with the "new stuff", so now his hands stay under the tray when he eats!
I did manage to get a smile out of him after A LOT of coaxing. Now he eats a little better, but he still really has no interest in eating, I guess it will be a process with him!

Karter is on the move.

Karter has started rolling this past week or so. We didn't know he could do this because we never let him play on the floor. Kade and Noelle would bother him. So this past week, we put a big blanket on the floor and no one was allowed on it but Karter. He almost immediately rolled from his belly to his back. And several times he has gone from his back to his belly. Unfortunately he did this 2 times during the night and was not happy about it, so I went in and rescued him!

Catching lightning bugs

The kid's new favorite summer activity is catching lightning bugs. They ask every night if we can go out and catch them. It is hard to tell what they're doing in the pictures, but they are chasing the lightning bugs.