Farm Livin'

I love my iPhone.  There are many, many reasons for this statement but I saw it mainly for the camera right now.  This weekend we headed back to Wisconsin for a baby shower I had to attend for Dan's cousin's wife, Sheila.  Dan came along and spent the day with his Dad and brother so we decided to ship the kids off to my mom's house and enjoyed an adult day.  Free of kids.  Of course, it felt absolutely relaxing to be completely free of parent duties for a few house but like any good mama, I did miss them, too.  

Jeff and Katie (married two years in a couple of weeks) brought it to our attention a while back that the four of us (Jeff, Katie, Dan, and myself) have never been out to eat together... just us.  No one else.  Never.  So since we were all going to be back in Wisconsin and had a babysitter already lined up we thought we'd cease the opportunity and make it a double date night.  We all had fun and walked away from Maxies Southern Comfort stuffed.  

But anyway, back to why I love my iPhone. Saturday night we joined up with the kids again (they were already asleep) so we were able to visit the farm on Sunday morning.  My mom's best friend, Pat, grew up on a farm and her parents still live there.  So on Sunday, we met her there and got a quick "tour" of the cow's field.  Something we knew Nora would LOVE.  I didn't bring my camera along this weekend but I'm so glad my phone has an amazing camera or I wouldn't have gotten any pictures of our time on the farm.  The phone camera just makes things so easy and convenient.  There's no way I would ever have kept up with my picture a day project if it weren't for my phone.  So there you have it.  Reason #47 I love my iPhone. 

We got to take a ride on the Gator.
Nora was "really scared" but she was willing
to try it - she's on Gram's lap.  Myles
on the other hand was ready to go.

When you drive the Gator along the fence
the cows come close and follow you.  They're
just as curious and think you'll give them food.

Myles taking a closer look.

Waving bye when they started walking
away.

Then we came down to where the cows
get fed.  Nora was surprisingly fearless and
climbed the fence and tried to pet them.
She was 2 inches away from getting licked!
The cow tried but just came up short.

Rusty was very excited to see the cows, too.

Twin cows! Literally!
This is the first time the Becker family had a cow that gave
birth to twins which is rare to begin with.  And both
survived which is even more rare.

MOO!!
The cows were "very noisy".

These cats were Myles' favorite part.
He stood and looked at them and squealed.
Very exciting stuff. 

Nora is already talking about going back to see the cows.
Last time I said, "Do you remember where we're going
today?"  She said, "Pat's house."
Too bad we were only going to the zoo. 

Big Girl Bed

A couple of weeks ago, I changed the sheets and comforter on Nora's bed and told her they were the new sheets for when she starts sleeping in her big girl bed.  I was just expecting to get it ready and eventually take down the crib and switch her over but she was so excited about it she wanted to nap in her bed that very afternoon.  So even though I wasn't planning on it, I went with it.  She did fantastic and slept great.  She even talked about sleeping there at night.  

If you look at my Through My Picture Window you know how that turned out.  We FaceTimed with Dan to say prayers and so he could help tuck her in for her first night in her big girl bed.  All was going great.  I thought... wow - this transition was much easier than I expected.  But as soon as I went to give her a kiss she said, "Nonnie weep (sleep) in baby bed."  What?!  All that for you to say you want to sleep in your crib??  Alright.  No biggie.  I wasn't planning switching her over anyway.  

Well, we went through this nap in the bed and nighttime in the crib thing for a couple of weeks when I decided just to take the crib down so she wouldn't have the option.  So on Monday night I told her tonight was the last night in her crib for bed and tomorrow we were going to take her crib down.  I held my word and today the crib came down.

It helped she was excited to help take the crib down. 

And thought it was fun to "sneak under".

It's down!  The room looks so empty.

She's officially a big girl!!

When it came to bedtime there was absolutely no fussing
about there being no baby bed anymore or having to
sleep in the big girl bed.  She climbed in like she's been
doing it for months already.  I snuck in her room to peek at
her before I went to bed and couldn't resist taking a few
pictures of her first night in a big girl bed. 

Kissable cheeks.  And kiss them I did! 

State Fair

We took the kids to the Wisconsin State Fair this weekend.  The fair is a completely different experience with kids in tow but in a good way.  

We stood in line for the famous
25 cent cup of flavored milk.  Nora was
excited to pay for her own glass with the
quarter she got from Grandpa's drawer of
spare coins.  

We tried cherry vanilla, banana, and of course, chocolate.

  

No surprise Nora was the one who choose chocolate.

 

Myles got to sample all of the
flavors as well (luckily I had a bendy
straw in my purse to make things easier)

The fair is all about the food.  Stop one... Saz's for sour
cream and chive fries.  Here are the kids waiting for Daddy
to come back with some grub.

And a very happy Nora once she saw french fries, which
seem to be becoming their own food group for her.

My happy boy.

He was playing peek-a-boo with Nora using the
stroller's canopy and I noticed you could see both of his
top chompers!! 

What a good sister, sharing her beloved french fries.

We bought tickets for all of us to go
down the giant slide.  First, Dan took
Nora up... and up... and up (106 mini
stairs. I counted.)

There they go!

He said she hung on tight to his legs.

Then it was my turn with Myles.  We are on the far right
as you're looking at the picture.

He didn't cry so I'll say he liked it.  I don't ever remember
going on the slide as a kid.  Doesn't mean I didn't, I just
don't remember, but it went faster than I would have
thought.  I had fun. 

Then it was off to see the cows.  This was Nora's favorite
part of the entire day.

We walked past this girl taking a snooze with her
cow.  It was quite cute to see her cuddled up
with this giant animal.  

We were even asked if we wanted to pet the cows! 

A couple times!  The second time she walked up there and
took this lady's hand who led the way... didn't need me!

She was so excited.

The horse pavilion was blocked off because they were
getting ready for a show so this was as close as we
could get to seeing them.

GIANT tractor wheels can fit a small child!

And finally, no trip to the Wisconsin State Fair
would be complete without a cob of grilled corn dipped
in a tub of melted butter.  Mmmm... my mouth
waters just thinking about it.  

One Year Celebration

Let's face it.  A child's one year birthday party is almost more for the parents than the child.  It's a celebration that we made it through the first year, relatively unscathed.  A time to stop and think of all the growing your child has done.  A chance to say, "look how big and smart my one year old is!"  We had that party for us, I mean for Myles on Sunday.  He won't remember a thing about his party but Dan and I will.  Glad I have this great forum to post pictures on for him to look back on one day.  

The party boy himself is wearing a
customized shirt to match the party's
theme - baseball.  It says 'birthday boy'
under his name with a 1 on the ball.

I made pennant signs just like you'd see at the ballpark.

And of course the party was held at Guenther Field

We served ballpark food (brats and
burgers with homemade french fries
and soft pretzels) from the concessions stand.

The best picture the proud parents got with the
party boy... maybe shouldn't have waited so long into the day.

Myles had his very own baseball cake.

We got him in nearly his birthday suit.
He started by taking a swipe at the frosting.

Then wiping it on the table.

So Nora tried to be the good big sister she is and help.

He still didn't get that into it so I broke a chunk of the
chocolate cake off and put a piece in his mouth.  He spit
it out and stuck out his tongue.  Maybe he'll be just like
his father and not like chocolate.... weirdo.

After a quick wipe down it was time to open presents.
He tore off some of the paper...

But like any one year old, he was more interested in the boxes.

This was the happiest he was
all afternoon! 

So happy that Nora had to see what the fun was all about.

"Don't mind me guys, this is a
riveting read I have to get back to." 

Hi, Mom.

And soon after, he went down for a nap. Even though he won't remember, he was worth every little detail that went into the party.  Thanks to all who came to help us celebrate 365 days of this wonderful little boy in our lives.