Letter to My 5 Month Old Daughter

Dear Brooklyn,

Have I mentioned what an infectious smile you have?  So much so that strangers who look at you and expect a scared or crying baby cannot believe that you gave them a smile.  You are just such a happy baby!

You are also becoming quite the pro as far sitting up goes.  With that, you have found your toes.  Oh, how you love eating your feet!  I can't believe that you could be comfortable hunched over like that, but you are!

The drooling has somewhat subsided since those cute, little bottom two teeth have come through.  But you still love to put anything around you into your mouth.  I think it's so funny when you catch a piece of paper laying around you and put it to your mouth.  Trying it remove it from your powerful grasp is quite the challenge.

Your daytime naps are becoming shorter and shorter.  You would think night time sleep would be continuous.  No, no!  I think we will be starting a new routine because both Mommy and baby are pretty tired.

We cannot believe how quickly you are growing and we love every minute of it!

Love,

Mommy

My Riding Companions

The elementary school that the kids will be going to holds a carnival every year.  It is run by carnies and by parents (they run the games, food, etc).  We have been wanting to go for quite some time, but this year they are finally big enough to go on some rides.

We scoped out what they had to offer and found a perfect kid ride.  The kids went on this one about 3 times.

We then saw my favorite carnie ride: the tilt-a-whirl!  Right away Abby said that she wanted to ride.  Not worried about her at all.  But then the boys wanted to go.  I had flashbacks of them as babies in the swing and the look on their faces said that they were a bit unsure.  I couldn't help but worry about seeing their breakfast on our lap.  But, they insisted that they wanted to go.  So we went!

 And they LOVED it!  I used my awesome skills to spin us around as much as possible (on our 2nd time going).  We were laughing so hard!  So happy that they will be joining me on rollercoasters in the future!

Our Outing with Beth

After much encouragement, Beth has finally opened up her own photography business.  We've known she was talented for quite a while ;)  Beth is always willing to seek out new place to photograph people, so we took her to Wagner Farm (Aunt Caroline took us here last year).

These are the ones I snapped of the kids.  They are in no way comparable to her pics!

Such a cute location!  The boys have been unwilling to let me dress them lately.  Abby is totally onboard!

Raspberry Picking

 

Since the kids loved strawberry picking so much, we decided to go pick raspberries.  I found a cute little farm on the Internet run by a farmer and his wife.  The guy was working on his barn when we pulled up and stopped to give us the tour.  His raspberries were all organic and housed under these large domes.  

This place was not for those who fear bugs.  Since there are no pesticides, the bugs keep all the bad stuff away.  There were honeybees all around us.  And these guys...

The berries were SO delicious.  I can't even explain how yummy and fresh they were.  The boys kept grabbing them and popping them in their mouth.  We picked two nice containers worth.

The farmer then gave the kids some bread and told us where to stand. He then yelled, "Here chicky, chicky", and these guys can running over.

They loved feeding the chickens and kept asking for more bread.  Josh saved his up and fed the longest.

We then moved on to the sheep and llama that guards them.  The farmer gave each kid a bushel of hay and told them to feed them through the gate.  You should have heard the laughter!!!

I think Josh was a little scared because he just threw the hay in there instead of holding it for them to eat.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I know we'll go back next year!

Labor Day Parade 2012

We attended the yearly end of summer parade in Schaumburg.  Chris's dad's family has a nice setup there.  This year was extremely warm!  That definitely didn't stop the kids from getting candy.  They were super excited!

 Brooke and I found a nice chair in the shade and camped out.

Cousin Amanda was spraying the parade people with water because of the heat.  They showed their gratitude by dumping bags full of candy at her feet.  Guess who was sitting next to her?  Yeah, their bags were so heavy we had to carry them.  Ugh!  Parade candy!  Gum, anyone?