Cole Carlson: One Year, Nine Months

Cole is another month older! Another month closer to the terrible twos! I kind of think he's actually already there. He has quite the feisty personality. I don't think our family fits the typical birth order personalities with this boy. :)

Here's what he's been up to:

- he is talking more and more. He can communicate most things. He uses single words.
- he loves to be outside following big kids around, trying to ride a scooter, or pushing his lawn mower.
- his favorite toy: a ball. Any kind. Any size.
- he is starting to notice trucks and cars.
- he hates to share.
- he still loves his sleepsack. We sometimes have to fight it off of him.
- he has put up a fight with giving up the paci. Hopefully soon we will tackle that one.
- he is wearing size 18 month clothes a size 6 shoe.
- he's become quite the little dancer.
- he is my little cuddle bug.
- we had our first experience with hands in the poopy diaper. Yuck!!
- he has the cutest little facial expressions. Lots of them!

He is in to everything and makes us laugh every day. We are so happy we have our sweet little boy in our family!

Kindergarten Fun!

Riley's teacher, Mrs. Schrodt, keeps a class blog and uploads pictures. Here are a few from the first few weeks!

Harper's First Day of 3 Year Old Preschool!

Harper had her first day of 3 year old preschool at Westview Church Preschool last week. She was so excited to go! She goes from 9:30-11:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was excited for her to go and interested in finding out how she does in a school setting. So far, so good.

I guess my brain was telling time to slow down as I wrote the year on her little sign as 2004!!! Cole hasn't quite figured out what to do when Harper is gone!

She has had three great days so far! Today Ms Julie told me that she has the sweetest and innocent little personality. I chuckled a little as I thought about how she drew on the wall, locked us out of our bathroom, hit me, and screamed bloody murder just yesterday!! I'm glad she behaves at school and it gives me hope that she will actually grow out of her terrible two's some day! ;)

Riley's First Day of Kindergarten

The first day of school came so fast this year. Maybe it was the excitement of kindergarten, or the fact that school started on August 13th!!! It seemed so early, but I was excited that Riley was able to celebrate her birthday with her classmates on the third day of school(something I always missed out on with an August birthday growing up)!

The first day went without a hitch. Riley learned how to tie her shoes two days before school so she insisted on wearing her new tennis shoes with the dress she picked out with Grandma Sheryl. At 6:30 am she was in our bedroom completely dressed (with her tennis shoes and name tag) and ready to leave. Since it was a shortened day and she didn't have to be to school until 9:45. It was a long morning of waiting.

She has loved school so far. She is one of the oldest kids and it suites her well. She loves learning, especially music and gym. ;) She loves seeing her friends at recess and looking for frogs. Which she doesn't wash her hands after recess, I just learned. She seems so grown up and I'm so excited for this new chapter in her life!!

Iowa State Fair 2014

We had another successful day at the fair. The kids got to ride a ton of rides, play a game, eat lots of food, get their faces painted/tattooed, and see lots of animals! Here is our day in pictures:

Simpson College Alumni Zoo Day

We had a fun day at the zoo with other Simpson alumni. We used our membership to get in and Simpson provided lunch and some up close experiences with some of the animals! It was a great day.

Science Center Camp: Splish Splash 2014

Riley attended a week long camp at the science center. It was right up her alley! Lakes, rivers, and oceans!