Midwest Meandering

Well, we are currently at a hotel in Davenport, IA and I thought that I would post some pictures of our trip so far. We left yesterday after class and drove down the I-35 to Kansas City, MO and then took the I-70 over to St. Louis, MO. We got there about 2am and went to sleep.

Isaac having fun with his new coloring book.

Jensine and Isaac getting some sleep. Wait, what irresponsible person took this picture while driving...?

Our boys still decided to wake up between 5-6am. Luckily, we convinced them to go back to sleep for a few hours after breakfast. After breakfast, we headed into St. Louis and visited the Gateway Arch. It was pretty neat and we wish that we could have had a little more time to view the museum aspect beneath it.

The Missouri River from just outside the Gateway Arch.

Austin was in the stroller just below the picture; yeah, we should have picked him up.

A nice relief from inside (beneath) the Arch.

I had my Air Force JAG interview at Scott AFB, across the border into Illinois and then we headed up the I-55 and made our way to Davenport, IA for the night. I head to Rock Island Arsenal, IA for my Army JAG interview and then back to the Twin Cities.

Austin happy to be out of the car, even if only to be in a high chair.

Here are some other random, yet recent pictures.Isaac enjoying a chocolate frosted cupcake in honor of Jensine's birthday.

Austin working on pulling himself up to the dishwasher. Now, if we could teach him to load and unload it...

Aaron's Travels

So, Jensine has been doing all the posting as of late, but I decided that I would put up some of the pictures that I have taken lately.

I took a trip to Utah this past week; my first since graduation. The Dean of Admissions at the Law School had planned on going, but forgot to tell the admissions office that she was no longer going to be able to make it. This, of course, enabled me to be able to go, but also prevented (due to the lateness of notification) us from using our Delta $99 Companionship Voucher to have Jensine and the boys come too.

I got to Utah Monday afternoon and went out to Dinner with Jared, Bill, Jana (Bill's girlfriend), and her son Oliver. It was nice to have some of the authentic Mexican food that is largely lacking in the Twin Cities.

Bill, Oliver, Jana, me, and Jared an a small, obscure (and therefore authentic) Mexican place

After dinner, I met my old roommate Joe and his wife, Misha, for some Baskin Robbins ice cream. It was nice to be able to reconnect with many people that I no longer see very often.

Misha, Joe, and me

Tuesday, I went to the University of Utah Law Fair for the University of Minnesota Law School and headed down to the Utah Valley after that. I stayed with my sister and her family. I was a little surprised that her daughter Staci gave me the warm welcome that she did, but it was a lot of fun.

Staci and Stefani (sporting her Uncle Aaron's hat and shades)

After dinner, I went to visit my friend Ed and his family up in Lehi. It was good to talk with them. I don't have a picture because I forgot to charge the camera battery and so they took the picture.

The next day (after sleeping on the floor between Jeremy and Staci), I went to the BYU Law Fair. It was amazing to see how much has changed around campus. Okay, so not that much has changed, but the Hinckley Alumni building looks awesome. After the Fair, I visited everyone at BYU Vending before driving around Provo trying to find some free Wi-Fi, but being unable to find any. I headed back to Jennifer's and emailed my assignment late before heading off again to run some errands.

Later that night, I visited President and Sister Rife (mission president for the second half of my mission). It was fun to chat with them and pick-up the final letter of recommendation that I needed for my Air Force JAG application. After another night on the floor, I came home. I also managed to pick up some new BYU apparel for the whole family.

Austin happily wearing his daddy's new beanie.

Isaac not-so-happily wearing the same.

Some of the other cute things lately are that Isaac is really developing an imagination. He was sitting on the toy below and said "Ridin' dinosaur." We never called that toy a dinosaur, but he apparently could imagine it being one. Austin's new trick is not so cute, but is funny. He recently found his nose and manages to put his finger in it on a regular basis. It never lasts for long, but I was able to get a picture.

Isaac ridin' the dinosaur.

Austin's new found talent.

Things are going well for our family. (It's Jensine's birthday today, in case you did not know). Next week we are taking a trip to St. Louis and will likely be able to visit several states that I have never really been through (Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin). I have an interview for the Air Force JAG on Tuesday outside of St. Louis, and on Wednesday in Illinois for the Army JAG. The Navy JAG has a recruiter in town so I won't need to travel. After the interviews, the respective boards review my application and I will know by the middle or end of January if I have been selected. Who knows what I will end up doing or if I will even be selected?

Here are some other pictures that I liked.

Isaac coloring a picture of a pumpkin (with inspiration) for Uncle Travis.

Man, that is one tired little boy.

Cool guy!

Funny Stories

So the boys have both been cracking me up lately. 

Austin story:

We went to the church to look for Isaac's favorite car (Doc from the movie Cars) and while we were there I decided to play some of Isaac's favorite songs on the piano while Austin played with my keys on the floor. After we finished, I looked at Austin and all around his mouth was black. I looked at the ground and I realized that he'd been eating a half eaten Oreo! First Oreo cookie at seven months--a child after my heart :) All I have to say is that it's a good thing it was the second child, b/c I probably would've freaked out more with Isaac.

Isaac story:

Last night in the middle of the night I suddenly heard Isaac say "Momma, open dinosaurs". I groaned and realized he probably was out of his bed and playing in the toy box, trying to open the dinosaurs. But then I went to his room, and he's still fast asleep. I wonder who he could get talking in his sleep from... :)

Gold medal story:

Isaac and Austin take baths together now (they have such a blast). While they were in, I went to go get some lotion from my room and I heard Isaac giving Austin some rasberries. I walk in the bathroom and there is Isaac giving Austin rasberries...on his butt. I about died laughing, and then explained that there are some areas we do NOT give rasberries.

Such and Such

Life here is going pretty well, except that both Austin and Isaac have decided that sleep is optional. Austin has a cold, and since he has a hard time breathing naturally anyway--the snot definitely isn't helping. And for some reason Isaac doesn't really like his bed anymore. The timing is fantastic--I actually thought things were coming into a sense of normalacy. 

I like the effect of less sleep on typical conversations. The best one happened during the night a couple days ago.

"I think Austin just woke up." (Jensine)

"That can't be good for John McCain's campaign" (Aaron)

It's been a lot of fun the last week or so in the mornings. I have an exercise buddy now, and so Isaac and her son have a blast together in the morning. I love the reaction when Rees (Isaac's friend) walks in the door. Usually it's running about with excited squeals, or just chanting his name over and over again. It's so nice to get out in the morning to go running. I'm pretending it's still summer and wearing shorts outside, but I think that illusion can only last another week or so. 

Aaron got a job interview with JAG in St. Louis on October 28th. Woo hoo! We're all going to take a road trip down, and hopefully Aaron will be able to demonstate some fantastic interviewing skills. At first I wasn't as excited for him to go into the military, but after he explained more about it and seeing how excited he is about it as a potential job--I hope it works out.  

Here are a couple pictures of the kiddo's going about their regular days. Isaac putting every single car he can find into his yellow truck, and Austin with his ginormous smile trying to lure you into playing with him.

Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch earlier this week and had a blast. They had tractors, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and a lot of pumpkins. Isaac had such a great time. He got to "drive" a tractor and hold a lot of different pumpkins. His favorite sound to make is the turkey (gobble, gobble, gobble), and so he and the turkey had a nice conversation together. Even though it was rather one-sided. We escaped with just two pumpkins, one is Isaac sized and the other one I got for carving at a later date. Isaac loves his pumpkin and now carries it around the house and has a meltdown if he doesn't get to bring it in the car. I'm surprised he hasn't asked to sleep with it.

Austin just loved being outside. I think Austin is also trying to continually amaze me as he is now wearing 18 month onsies. They are little big, but not much. Aaron and I are already having visions of Austin outweighing Isaac by the time he's one. The fact that they can wrestle together, which they love to do, and Austin can really hold his own says something.

We're Back!

Even though we had a lot of fun in Sioux Falls with my parents and seeing my sister and Isaac and Austin's cousins, it feels so nice to be home. Isaac is loving having his big bus back again (he uses it like a shopping cart...prized possesions go into the seat compartment), and both of them like having their daddy back as well. Austin loves it when Aaron scares him, and Isaac loves watching "The Hulk" with his dad. I would have to say the Hulk is Isaac's somewhat strange, new obsession. Strange because while he likes to watch the "green, stroooong Hulk" he also doesn't like the mess and mayhem that the Hulk creates. He frequently goes "Oh noooo!" when the Hulk starts his destruction. Here are some pictures I took in Sioux Falls.

I love spoons

So I've been working with Isaac on using a spoon more. Most kids his age I think are already doing this, and have been for some time it seems like, but today was a fantastic point. He ate cereal for breakfast all on his own! Milk of course got everywhere, but at this point so does everything else. He was so proud of himself though, he didn't want me to take the bowl and spoon away even though he was clearly done. It was pretty cool.

Austin just broke through with another tooth yesterday so he now has three! Craziness! I don't put my fingers any where near his mouth anymore. I'm convinced his teeth are more like fangs by how sharp they are. But it does make for some pretty great smiles.

I'm leaving this Friday to go and help my mom with her knee surgery. I'm excited to help, but I feel like we just got home. One thing for sure though, Isaac will be thrilled to see his cousins for a few days and then grandpa! Austin will just love having more people to charm :)

So we're starting to think about potty training Isaac. He came out of the bathroom the other day crying "Potty, Potty, Potty!!" We asked him if he had to go potty and he said "Kay (his form of yes)" So we tried to have him go. I think it would've been too crazy if he actually had gone, but I guess the interest is there now. I'm not saying I love diapers, but I have NEVER looked forward to potty training. Any tips would be more than appreciated from all you veterans out there.

Cute stories of the day:
Isaac is walking around saying "Tommy? Fun!" "Rees? Fun!" It's so cute hearing how much he loves his friends.
Austin is still in love with his blanket. But the best part is that he likes to catch it on his bottom teeth and try to pull it away. I just hope it stays together until he's one!

"Our State Fair is a Great State Fair..."

Yesterday, we attended the Great Minnesota Get Together, also known as the State Fair. We spent a nice little sum of money and enjoyed all the treats on a stick that our free-flowing blood could handle. We had fresh cheese curds, frozen lemonade, a 1/2 lb. sausage, funnel cake, chocolate-dipped cheesecake, and homemade ice-cream root-beer floats. It was quite enjoyable and Isaac liked it as well. It was not exactly a diet-friendly meal, but the fair comes but once a year.

The only ride that we went on was a giant slide. It cost $2 per trip down and we had to buy both ourselves and Isaac a ticket each time. Jensine went with him once, Aaron went with him once, and then Jensine took him once again. Even after $12 of rides, we dragged Isaac away kicking and screaming "BIIIIIIIG SLIDE! BIIIIIIIIG SLIDE!!! AGAIN!!! FUN! FUN!" He obviously did not comprehend that it was not like a playground slide, but cost money. We had to bribe him with the ice cream to get him to stop (or, rather, we tried to bribe him). Here is a video of Jensine going down with Isaac the last time:

Austin was such a sweet little boy at the fair. He just fell asleep in the stroller with his blanket that our friend Susan made for him. He LOVES his blanket and it acts like Isaac's pacifier. Oddly enough, Austin loves his blanket probably as much as Isaac loved his pacifier.
Ah, security...

Austin is 21 lbs right now. On the weight chart for 4-6 months, that puts him above the 97 percentile line. He is one thick little kid. (For the record, at his 6-8 month appointment, Isaac 20 lbs. 15oz). He has also learned to crawl (more or less). He can cover a lot of ground and will go after anything on the floor.Gotta get that bottle! (just off the screen)

Isaac's cutest little thing lately is that he is such a softy. He learned to apologize and will now apologize to his truck or ball if he accidentally drops it ("Sorry, truck!"). It is super cute. Isaac snuggling with Cookie Monster.