Easter Celebrations!

Happy Easter Everyone!

This past weekend was filled with family, friends, and fun. We left Friday morning to go to Red Wing only to be greeted by a small chore my mom wanted help with. The small chore ended up taking a good portion of the afternoon as we put up a fence around a flower garden for her, surrounded the area with concrete edging and then filled in the garden with mulch...oh and did I forget the Menards run in there? I don't think she intended it to be so much work but we were glad to help her out even if our day of relaxing wasn't so much!

That night our good friends Abby and Mike came over with their daughter Lucy for burgers on the grill. Lucy is becoming Robert's holiday buddy as so far they've spent time together at Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter. It was fun to see the two interact and it is always nice to hang out with them to share in the joys of parenting!!!

On Saturday my brother Nick and sister-in-law Mandie came down and we had a delicious Easter dinner. Mandie and I love the cheesy potatoes that has become a family tradition when we eat ham and thought we were very generous to share with everyone else. Of course we both took some leftovers home and are keeping our husbands out of it! After we were all pleasantly stuffed we headed down to one of the local parks to walk, exercise our dogs, and check out their new state of the art playground. The weather was so beautiful this weekend and it was great to get outside after a LONG winter.

Walking the path by the river at the park.

Swinging at the new playground...the ground is all soft and squishy!

Sunday morning we went to the early service at church and Robert did really well. Only one poopy diaper and a couple of dinosaur shrieks during the service...not too bad! We think all the music helped keep him calm and he loved listening to his Grandma sing in the choir! After church we went back and started to pack up while Robert napped. After a quick lunch of leftovers we headed up to Farmington for our last celebration.

Eric's dad has been on a kick to try out new cooking ideas and this weekend he wanted to relive the 70s and so we fondued for Easter! It was a lot of fun and I'm still wanting more of the yummy cheese fondue he made...luckily he sent home some of the cheese with us so there is some in my near future. The Troesters (Eric's Uncle Tom, Cousin Kelly and her husband Shane, and son Tobias) were also able to join in the day and we had a great time watching the kids run around and play. Lyric did a great job and entertaining Robert and Tobias, whose 1 1/2 years old, but she sure was tired by the end of the day.

Lyric giving Robert his toy blocks

Tobias finding another Easter egg and eating more Jelly Beans!

This week should be a pretty quiet one for us. We have swimming lessons tomorrow night and I have to teach on Friday night but other than that we are looking forward to a restful week...now if we could only get Robert to sleep through the night we'd really get some rest!

Look I got an Easter Bunny Basket

Unwrapping my gifts

These are my gifts...don't touch!

Wearing Uncle Nick's shades before heading to the park

Another great idea my mom had...finger painting with a 7 month old!!!

Blue hands??? At least they matched his Easter outfit.

What's eater without some dyed eggs?

Robert & Lucy with an Easter Bunny that you can't see to well!

I thought it was hard to get one baby to look at the camera, two is impossible!

Why you taking so many pictures mom?

Earlier in the week at the Robbinsdale Dog Park

Robert and I watching the dogs run silly!

Swimming Lessons!!!

Today was Robert's first swim lesson and first time in the pool. For the last few nights he's adjusted his bedtime and been falling asleep between 6-7 so we were a little worried about the 6:30 lesson, especially when he fell asleep during the car ride to the pool. Luckily there were no tears but also no smiles.

For the majority of the class he was pretty serious (as you'll see in the pics below) and half asleep. At the very end of the class, after a little hokey pokey, he woke up and we finally got some smiles out of him. He also got pretty brave at the end and kept trying to put his mouth in the water. The class continues for 10 weeks and I'm looking forward to seeing how he progresses!

Kicking on his back with Dad

A new way to do Tummy Time!

So Serious!!

Who needs to crawl?

~ Scooting ~

the real reason he is already getting

a bald spot on the back of his head

Here is one of him destroying his

fort in his desire to move about!

As you can see from the videos above Robert is on the move even without having mastered crawling. He is definitely keeping us on our toes as he tries to get into everything.

This week was pretty uneventful but our weekend made up for it. Friday night Robert entertained G'ma & G'pa Hempler while I was working and Eric was playing cards with friends. They said he was a perfect little boy, not that I would think any differently about him, and they really enjoyed their time with him.

On Saturday we started the day with me cleaning inside and Eric working outside on burning all the branches that had fallen off during the winter. Not an easy task to do when we only have a small decorative fire pit but Robert enjoyed watching and being outside with daddy! Later Nick and Mandie came over and we ended up playing some Guitar Hero.

Today was a day of more cleaning and laundry...so not the most fun. We are looking forward to this week, not only because of Easter but also because Robert starts swim lessons on Tuesday!!! I just hope that he enjoys the water and I don't become an annoying parent in the class thinking that I know more than the person teaching. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Tuesday brings. We hope you all have a great Easter!

Laughing at the boys playing!

So calm on the guitar!

So serious on the drums!

I think he could have stared at the fire for hours!

Loving being outside...even if it is cold!

Where does the time go?

Above pic at 6 1/2 months

Below pic at 1 month

First Tooth!

This was another big week for Robert as he cut his first tooth! It is still just peeking through the gums so taking a picture of it was difficult but between the ones below and the ones in the previous post from Sear's there should be enough of the little one this week!

It was spring break at St. Kate's this past week so to give Eric a break, or rather allow Eric to take Apollo to the vet, Robert came to work with me one of the days. He was pretty good but taking naps in his stroller was a new adventure.

On top of the new tooth Robert continues to grow everyday. Even though he isn't crawling yet he has become quite mobile. He is either rolling or scooting in a backward motion by using his head and feet (see picture below). This morning he scooted over to the coffee table and got really mad when he couldn't get the drawers/cupboard doors open. We love the changes but aren't too sure if we are ready for him to be on the move.

Making a bridge / way of moving around the floor

OOH! A new toy!

Staring out the window at lunch while at St. Kate's

Smiling at mommy while at work

Up on all 4s!

Photo Shoot

My mom came up to visit us, and by us I mean Robert, for the weekend and decided that she wanted some new pictures of Robert. So off we went to Sear's for some 6 month pictures and I can't believe how much my little boy has grown. He sat so perfectly (no wobbles!) for the pictures and was as happy as can be the entire time. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Growing Week!

This has been a great week with Robert and although it is hard for me to admit my baby is growing up it is fun to witness the changes. Here is a recap of the week:

• Monday - Dad started the Baby Sign Language teaching with Robert, but we are told it will take about a month to really grasp the first signs. We're starting with the food sign! We also started using a sippy cup on this day. He is still trying to get the hang of it but everytime the cup is in arms reach he opens his mouth wide and grabs for it. (see picture below)


• Tuesday - Sat without assistance!! (see picture below)


• Wednesday - Moved up to Stage Two baby food, new meal plan is oatmeal for breakfast, fruit for lunch, and vegetable with cereal for dinner...still doing bottles as well!


• Thursday - New car seat arrived (see picture below).


• Saturday - Is up on all fours or rather the crawling position. Of course I couldn't get a picture of this because he isn't strong enough to hold the pose long enough for the camera to get ready. Hopefully I'll get it sometime next week. We are thinking crawling is just around the corner. Good thing we started baby proofing the house last weekend!

In addition to all these amazing changes Eric again deserves Dad of the Year award for the lack of help from me this week. The division 3 nationals were at the U of MN this past week (Wednesday - Saturday) and although my girls didn't get in I still volunteered to help out at the meet. It was great fun but meant I was gone everyday from 8am-10pm. I am so lucky to have married such a great man.

Sippy Cup!

Sitting (while playing with Mylo)

New Carseat...picture from cell phone which is why it is so small


Closest I could get to him gettin up on all fours!

"Like my new shades?"

The best way to play with your toys is to flip them upside down!

Happy Birthday Mandie!

Happy Birthday Auntie!

I can't wait to see you on Sunday and celebrate with you.

Make sure Uncle Nick is super nice to you today.

Love Robert