Trying Out the Climbing Cube

Earlier this week we tried out our "new" climbing cube downstairs. The kids did great with it! They were climbing, crawling and going up and down the slide!  Callie even tried hanging off the side by the slide!  Anderson also got to try on Dad's hat for size, a little bit more growing and it will fit just fine!

The Basement is Finished!

As the title says "The basement is finished!" Yay! We couldn't be more excited! We now have the room we need to move around and it came at the perfect time! The kids are on the go and as you can see from the picture below climbing on everything! Anderson got himself on top of the activity table in less than a minute or two while I was carrying something up from the basement!  The area at the bottom of the stairs is going to be the kids "mini" gym!  We have a few more large climbing, energy burning toys coming to help us through the winter!

New Shoes

This Labor Day weekend was all about labor for us! We did so much work around the house-restained the deck, painted the basement, cleaned the basement from the all our construction, took the carpet off the stairs, painted the laundry room floor, rearranged our landscaping rocks, stained our new living room window, hung curtains, washed all the windows, made baby food...the list could go on forever. So while we didn't have too much fun we do feel good about getting so much accomplished. We took a break on Sunday and headed to the mall to buy the kids their first "real" shoes! So grown up! And Monday night we did have some fun doing our hair in the bathtub!

*Anderson has started walking along furniture-Sept. 5!

Pickups and Pancakes

Out with the car and in with a truck!  David has really been missing driving a truck so with a little haggling and permission from his wife ;) we traded in the Subaru and got this..."There's just something women like about a pickup man..." (Thank you Joe Diffie for the song lyrics!)

Here's Callie on a regular morning eating her pancakes!  Such nice manners, right?  She loves anything in the bread family and can never seem to shove enough in or do it fast enough!

1 Year Professional Photos and a Visit from Some Special Friends

We had the kids one year pictures done at Sears here in Minot. It's just getting to be too expensive to see a private photographer for all our milestones. The kids did well and let me tell you it's difficult to get the two of them sitting, looking, and smiling at the same time-so much different than at 6 months when they couldn't move! They are a little grainy from the scanning I had to do to get them onto the blog.

This past Saturday Laura and Landon came to visit! They were in town for just a few days after spending the week in Fargo. We felt so special that they made time in their busy schedule to see us. The kids had a nice time playing and eating together-Callie even gave Landon a ride on her 4-wheeler! And David and I had a wonderful time catching up with Laura. It's always so special to see friends again!

Trapped in the Nursery

That's right we've been trapped in the nursery for the past week! And we may finally be getting out! Grandma and Grandpa came up last weekend to help with our projects around the house. David and Grandpa finished hanging the drywall in the basement, mudded the basement and replaced the front living room window-which was not so easy! Grandma kept the kids in the nursery while all of this work was being done! Ever since then the kids have only been able to play in the nursery since everywhere else is under construction! Today I finished painting the area around the window which means the furniture can be moved back and the kids can play! The window still has to be trimmed out but that is something we will tackle this weekend!  Callie learned how to turn on and off Grandma's camera and then Grandma taught her how to look at pictures! Little techie like her Dad!  The kids love crawling into this area of their changing table-see we would have never known that if we hadn't been trapped in the nursery! 

*Anderson is now pulling himself up onto furniture!

*Callie is waving!

*Anderson stood by himself!

*Callie plays peek-a-boo behind a book!

Doctor and Dentist Visits

Yesterday we visited the doctor for our 1 year well visits. Anderson weighs 20lbs6oz putting him in the 20th percentile. He is 31 inches long and in the 90th percentile. Callie weighs 15lbs8oz putting her in the 0 percentile. She is 27.5 inches long and in the 10th percentile.

Today we visited the dentist for the first time and both kiddos had great reports! They were given their first toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash! Still a little too young for some of it but now were ready!