Bummer Weekend

This turned out to be a let down of a weekend. Well, except for Friday. Cole made me a birthday cake and Jess and Dan babysat so Kristin and I could go see Moneyball. On Saturday, Kristin and I spent the day running around trying to get our costumes put together for a Halloween party we were headed to that night. We (and some others) were dressing up as the cast of the Jersey Shore.

I believe this hairdo is called a "blow out" or "frohawk"

We made it to the party but ended up getting called to pick up the kids from Grandma and Grandpa Stear's house. Kristin's Grandma had to go to the hospital. Obviously leaving a party under those circumstances was not a big deal and thankfully it turned out to be nothing and she is fine. It actually saved us some money and I'm sure a doozy of a hangover.

On Sunday we had plans to go trick or treating with the Highs. A couple hours before we were supposed to head over there Cole got a fever and we had to cancel. Looks like we were just not meant to do anything this weekend. We are just happy Cole and Henry are not at an age to care about trick or treating. Although, I was pretty upset about missing out on the candy. Luckily I'm a grown up and can just go buy myself some later.

On top of it, when Kristin and I were discussing our groceries for the week we agreed to get some veggies and dill dip.  Somehow she forgot and bought Southwest Veggie Ranch dip instead.  I mean, we just talked about it. What the hell? Needless to say I was disappointed. Probably the biggest disappointment of the weekend.

We did finally go trick or treating on Monday night in Kristin's parent's neighborhood, and of course took pics throughout the weekend.

Check out this dick in a box. Just kidding Cole.

The Doodle

Cole has a new best friend and it goes everywhere he goes. Can you spot the Magna Doodle in the following pictures? Cole loves this thing SO much he has been known to wake up in the middle of the night wailing for his "doodle." We are pretty lax on where the doodle can travel with the exception of nap time and bedtime. Never has a Magna Doodle been so loved; Cole spends his days drawing circles, paw prints and squares. He also likes to write his numbers (1, 2, 3...9) and pretends to spell his name (C-O-O-O, paw print!).

Super Hank

Henry's growing fast and seems to be getting bigger by the day. I think he might be the strongest baby ever and I'm looking forward to having a linebacker in our crew. I'm envisioning Cole as a wide receiver right now. He is already pretty good at catching a ball. Looks like both kids are overcoming their mother's genes and Kristin won't be setting a trend for special ed gym recommendations.

I will have to start informing Cole that he better be a nice older brother. I think Henry may be as big and strong as Cole sooner rather than later. I swear Henry was holding his head up at the hospital by the time we were leaving. I know, probably not true but he still started to hold his head up very early. He rolled over awhile ago and now is crawling. Granted he worms about a centimeter at a time, but it's still crawling in my book. The weekly video (more like monthly+) shows him rolling over. We will post a crawling video soon. Please note our camera does not do slow-motion. It is his current speed...snail.

Weekend Randoms

Some pictures of what the boys have been up to lately - from the weekend and beyond.

Laundry basket love

Fun with empty boxes

Cole collecting Bumbos at a children's store

Visit to the library - collecting all the copies of the same two books. Must be a good one.

Hopefully Cole and Henry will always get along this well. Although I realize it is not likely, so I will just hope that Cole starts wearing pants more often.

Once Henry started to use the bouncy chair and bumbo Cole loved them more than ever. The latest is the Jumperoo.

Henry at 4 months

Fun raking leaves at Grandpa Stear's house

Henry's first bite of rice cereal (almost real food)

Double Shorts - Cole was insistent on wearing his blue pajama shorts over his normal brown shorts. Not sure why. What a weirdo. 

Cole acting a little goofy. He decided to throw on the winter hat, line up some empty laundry baskets, and step in and out of them. A typical Monday morning activity for most of us.

Still sad about the Brewers.

My brother and I went to Game 6 of the NLCS. Sadly this is the Cardinals celebrating at Miller Park. Look at all that red. Makes me want to cry.

The Most Hurt Feelings in the World

My feelings have never been more hurt than they were the other morning. Cole just finished breakfast and wanted to play. I believe he was looking forward to drawing on his Magna Doodle. I was leaving for work, so I wanted some attention from the boys. I tried to pick Cole up to say goodbye and he, of course, got mad and wanted nothing to do with me. I tried to say bye again and give him a quick hug and kiss. He got angry, then grabbed me by my thumb and walked me out of the play room, to the kitchen, and all the way to the front door where he said "Bye Dad!" and started to shut the entryway door (assuring I would not return to the main part of the house and disrupt his fun). I just can't believe he would not want to hang out with me. I'm fun. The joke will be on him when he's paying for his own bike with training wheels...there are penalties for hurting Dad's feelings.

Another Croup Kid!

Henry started coughing a couple nights ago and it is a cough I am all too familiar with. It's definitely the croup cough. Henry sounds like he sucked back a pack of Marlboro Reds in an hour. Luckily he has been sleeping pretty well, but Kristin and I are still worried. When Cole had croup (all seven or so times), we would be up all night trying to rock him to sleep. It sucked. Hopefully Henry has an easier go with it. Kristin took Henry to the doctor and it was confirmed that he has croup, just in case you didn't trust my diagnosis. Poor Henry (and us!).
 

Henry also had a doctor's appointment yesterday, just for his regular checkup. He is 16 pounds 8 ounces and 26 inches long. Big boy. He can also now have real food. Well, real baby food. I guess rice cereal and mushy fruit isn't all that exciting, it is actually kind of gross. But exciting nonetheless. Now the real challenge will be getting Cole to allow Henry to sit in the Bumbo and eat. I'm guessing Cole will demand "bites" of Henry's meal while also trying to yank him out of the seat by his bobbly baby head. Fun times ahead.
 
To round out our medical overview Cole also headed to the doctor yesterday. His eye is weepy and creating yellow goo. Turns out he has an eye AND ear infection. Awesome! Kristin usually sits on Cole to suck snot out of his nose, now she will have to sit on him to give him his medicine too. I make her do all the hard stuff

If you look close you can see the yellow eye goo...and check out those bushy eyebrows

Go Brewers!

Sorry to bore you with another sports post, but I just felt the need to say something about the NLDS Game 5 on Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks - It was the best sporting event I've ever attended. Enough said. Actually, I will give Jason Hansen a nod for the best celebration - when he ripped his towel right in half. I don't think he would normally have the strength, but the adrenaline was pumpin'. It was much better than Tim Sullivan and I embracing in a man hug for what some may consider an awkwardly long time. Although, it was probably not as weird as Tim's long hug with a total stranger next to him. Miller Park was crazy and loud, so it all seemed okay and appropriate. My hands hurt from all the high fives. I even have bruises on my shins from hitting the seats during the celebration and trying to make it a seat over to hug Joe Kroner (the other member of our group that night). I got goose bumps overhearing a man in the bathroom after the game telling his zitty faced teen, "Someday you will tell your grand kids about this game." So true. I can't wait to tell Cole and Henry all about it.

I also scored a free ticket to the NLCS Game 1 on Sunday against the hated St. Louis Cardinals. I owe Dustin Schilz for this one. Although, I hear he owes me since Henry and his daughter Zoey are apparently getting married. I will take it out of his future dowry.



Kristin's Weekend Nightmare

My idea of an awesome weekend definitely differs from Kristin's idea of a good time. It was a huge Wisconsin sports weekend; Kristin's nightmare started on Saturday and ended late on Sunday. The start of the weekend wasn't great, on our morning walk to the hardware store, Cole punched me in the eye. I was already fatigued because I was wearing Henry in the Bjorn and Cole decided he also wanted me to carry him. My reflexes weren't the greatest and he got me pretty good.The plus side is that I'm happy he doesn't punch like his mother and I'm thrilled to say he hits much harder than our friend Brett "Lilly" Hood. Notice in his latest blog update he is pictured reading a fashion magazine. Since super sports weekend was slated to start shortly after Cole gave me a shiner, the day quickly shaped up.

Game 1 - Brewers vs. D-Backs: The first inning I almost crapped myself, but luckily Braun has a hell of an arm and made the throw to home plate. Otherwise, as we all know, the game was great. Kristin made me hold Henry much of the game and feed him, which wasn't too distracting but I almost gave him a couple baby heart attacks while cheering, especially when Fielder smacked his homer in the 7th. Henry cried pretty good after that one.

After the game we made a quick trip to Old Navy. Cole has been walking around like the 100 year flood is right around the corner. It's getting cold and we don't want frozen ankles, so we ran out and bought him some new pants. He's getting pretty big. Hard to believe he will be two soon.

Game 2 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska: Wow!

Before the games on Sunday, the boys and I (sans Kristin) went out to brunch for Jessie's 22nd birthday. We went to the Wicked Hop and ordered the Bloody Mary boot. I highly recommend it; although you do have to stand up to drink it. If you think that is too hard, just remember my Grandma could handle it, so don't be a baby.

Games 3 and 4 - Packers vs. Broncos and Brewers vs. D-Backs:  I would have preferred if the games were not on at the same time as it lead to my biggest dilemma of the weekend...what to wear? How does a fan support both teams at once? And how would I dress the boys?

I chose to support both - Packer long sleeve with Brewer short sleeve on top. Henry has a sweet Packer sweatsuit with football booties and Cole supported the Brewers. Kristin refused to wear anything "team gear," she said it makes her feel sick. I have no more words about that (at least that I can write on a family friendly blog).

The games being on at the same time did set up nicely for a kid free outing, which nowadays is always appreciated. And it saved me from the hassle of trying to set up two TVs in the living room. Thanks to my mother for taking the kids, so Kristin and I could go out and watch the Packers put a hurtin' on Denver and the Brewers take another one at home for a Wisconsin 4-0 weekend record. I did have to listen to the final out of the Brewers game in the car as we had to race to pick up Henry. I think once he gets tired all he wants is his mother; although Grandpa John did a good job settling him down while we were in route to pick up the screaming baby.

Ben was also home all of last week and Kristin and the boys got to spend all of today with him before they dropped him at the airport.

Three in Diapers

ONE

TWO

THREE

The explanation for Bella's fancy bedtime accessory? She wets the bed...our bed!