My boys!

How sweet they are!

Playing at Grace

At school today, the kids walked down to the garden to plant fall bulbs and have their snack outside. It was such a nice day for it! After class, all the kids, parents and siblings got together to eat and play in the gym. School takes so much energy out of him that he even took a nap after lunch.

Heading back from planting bulbs in the school's garden

Lily and Xander pushing Chris around the gym

funny boy!
Since they kept ramming him into the walls, they thought it would be a good idea to put a helmet on his head.

Fuller Park with friends

Taking a break from the running around. Never did understand the game that they made up, but they were having fun.

I was surprised to find Xander on the tire swing with Connor and Maya. He doesn't usually like even regular swings. It's amazing what they will try when they see other kids doing something. (Not sure if that is a good or bad thing!)

Lew and Xander together again. With Lew in preschool 4 days a week, we don't get to see him hardly at all anymore!

The Tongue

We have been seeing a lot of this lately. Nathan's first little tooth is just below the surface and along with the drool and night waking is the tongue. We remember Xander doing this as well. I think he is rubbing the bottom of his tongue over where his tooth is coming in because it soothes it. Either way, it is cute. But now I am getting Raspberries blown in my face!

Yep, that is my 5 month old, in crawl position, scooting around on the floor. Cripes, we are in trouble!

Still in his pjs and already full of attitude

Naked and sassy

"give me that camera, woman!"

Half-naked sassiness

More of the boys (imagine that...)

I guess big brothers can do it too
Both smiling AND looking at the camera. Very cool!
Sweet boys!

Xander's new haircut

While Nate napped, I turned on Xander's favorite DVD "Big Machines" and cut his hair. He only gets to watch it when I cut his hair and so is usually very cooperative about it. He did a great job! I think I cut a pound of hair off of him!

Another trip to the Sculpture Garden

Last time wasn't long enough so we headed back to the Sculpture Garden to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. It will be gone soon enough.

Sweet Cheeks!

Some more adorable photos of our little baby

Oh dear!

Nathan is only 5 months old and he is such a crazy kid! He rolls all over the floor, only wants to stand, grabs at anything we have to eat or drink and is very close to crawling. His first tooth hasn't even broken through yet! I have a feeling he is going to be hard to keep up with very soon. This is a little video of him after his bath, just before getting ready for bed. We were letting his little bum dry off before diapers and pjs... It is kind of a dark video, but you get the idea.

First illness of the school year (already?!?)

Seems like we are just getting started and Xander is already starting to fight off the germs. He spent the day on the couch with a very high fever while his body tried to burn it off. But it got the best of him and he ended up with a stuffy/runny nose and a cough. Nate started showing symptoms of it as well a few days later, only he managed to fight it off and if fine. Love the breastfed baby's immune system!

Nate is hanging out and keeping him company

Xander's first visit to the dentist

Today was Xander's first time at the dentist. He did a great job! They did xrays and cleaned his teeth and he was very brave through it all. And his teeth are in great shape!

Katie taking Xander's xrays

Checking out the cool dental tools

Buffing those pretty teeth

Dr. Julie comes in to take a peek and "count" Xander's teeth

Can't resist naked baby photos!

This never gets old... Such a cute little body!

Bath time!

I was getting Nate into to the tub for his bath and before I knew what was happening, Xander had stripped down and hopped in too!

They cannot keep their hands off each other!

They have very different complexions for sure

Meeting Madelyn

Jordana will be starting back to work soon (already?!?) and wanted me to see Madelyn before she starts daycare full time. I hadn't seen her since she was one day old in the hospital. She is such a tiny little peanut! Xander wanted to touch her so bad. But between two nursing and napping babies, he patiently played downstairs all morning.

Little Madelyn - 5 weeks old and she still weighs over two pounds less than Nate did when he was born (3 weeks early too!)

After they left, we got busy building Xander a cave to spend his "quiet time" in. He dragged pillow, stuffed animals, books and most of Nate's toys in there with him.

Apparently there are no photos allowed in the cave!

Peeking out of his front door to say hello

"Hey, where are all my toys?"

Trying to sit up

This crazy kid is doing so many things that I am not even remotely prepared for! Sitting up is just one of them.

He starts like this...
...and ends like this. For now, anyway!

Great grandpa Ernie comes to visit

Ernie came to see the boys today and it was a lot of fun. He got to watch Xander drive the Gator around that he bought him last Christmas. Unfortunately, they didn't bring the camera out, so I have no photos of that. While we were visiting, we could tell that he was itching to get his hands on Nate and so I handed him over. They were smiling from ear to ear and we got so many cute photos of them that it was so hard to pick which ones to post! After that, he bought us all lunch. What a treat! Now Xander is waiting for the call to go to Owatonna and go for a ride on the combine. He had so much fun doing that last fall.

Nate thought great grandpa was pretty cool!

Sculpture Garden picnic

It has been so hot this summer that we haven't done a lot of things that we planned on doing. One thing that Xander has been asking for since last fall is going to the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center and to Loring Park to feed the ducks. It was a beautiful day for it and so we packed up and headed out for a picnic. Xander loves listening to the area church bells ring! He calls them Morning Bells. How cute!

"Plastic Spoon and Dried Cherry" by Chris Pichner

Yummm! Egg salad!

Baby Nathan hanging out and watching us eat
Just in case he was thinking about it...

Strolling through the park

Xander is starting to get squirrelly

Nate, always the little trouper, waiting patiently to get home for a nap.

Brother Love

I have never seen anything quite like it, and I hope it lasts forever. These two boys are absolutely ga-ga over each other. Xander can't leave the poor kid alone, always wants to hold his hand and wakes him up whenever he can by touching and kissing him (grrrrr!) And Nate looks and Xander in a way that is indescribable. He is mesmerized by the sound of his voice and watches every move he makes.

Xander is obsessed with his old baby toys now and is always trying to "show" Nate how to play with them.

Xander's 3 year and Nate's 3 month photos

These photos were taken in July, when Nate was 3 months old. We have a couple of wallets, but also had a friend scan the proofs for us. So...if anybody wants copies, let us know which ones and what sizes - wallets, 4x6 or 5x7.