Saturday, October 31, 2009

Trick-Or-Treating Fun!!!

Last night was Brady's first ever Halloween! The weather was less than ideal so we decided to go to Bass Pro Shop to Trick-or-Treat as they were having indoor fun for kids. So we all caravaned to Altoona (Jon/Jen/Jackson/Joel, Bryce/Meggie/Luke and Travis/Ashley/Tessa). We had 5 kiddos that were SO cute all dressed up. We had 2 giraffes, a monkey, a bumble bee and Super Man. Check out the pics below...all the kids had so much fun. It was such a great idea to go indoors!



There's a monkey on the loose!


Mommy, I love wearing my costume!



Even monkeys can play with toys


It's fun to be on daddy's shoulders



In front of the fireplace at Bass Pro Shop



Brady taking some candy from a princess

Jenn with her two giraffes



Getting more candy

Love the tail!




Luke and Tessa were so cute, holding hands!


The whole crew: Brady, Tessa, Luke, Joel and Jackson



Family Photo

Friday, October 30, 2009

Fun Friday Foto...

Our on-the-go boy decided he wanted to take off while I was in the middle of changing his diaper...he really wanted to play...this picture just cracks me up! Had to post it! :-)

Halloween Preview...Our Little Monkey

Here are some pics from Brady's little photo shoot we had a couple weeks ago...he'll get to wear his costume tonight when he goes Trick-or-Treating for the first time...we're so excited for him to experience it! :-)





He just loved to push the pumpkins all over

Monkey on the loose...


I think I'll eat some mulch now...yum, yum!

Little Miss Logan Geisler

On Sunday we went to Norwalk to visit Mike, Kristin, Eli and their newest addition, little miss Logan Geisler. She is such a sweet little baby and oh so cute! Eli and Brady played a little together, and we were able to catch up with Mike and Kristin. It was great seeing them and thier newest blessing.


Andy with Logan


Eli playing with his toys

Sunday, October 25, 2009

GO HAWKEYES!!!

Yesterday was a great day to be an Iowan! With the Cyclones beating the Huskers (sorry Dad!) and the Hawks winning a close game! We headed over to Jon and Jenn's for a fun night with our friends to watch the game and eat some good food! It was a great time getting all the kiddos together too and Brady LOVED seeing their cat Sophie. I know at some point we're going to have to get him a pet. He absolutely loves dogs and cats (which he gets from his father) and I'm glad he likes them. I would probably like them more if I didn't have a few unfortunate encounters with dogs growing up. Earlier yesterday we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and go to the Geisler Family Farm which has a pumpkin patch, etc...we were hoping to do a hay ride but with all the rain we've gotten over the week, the ground was just too soft. Oh well! We were able to get outside and enjoy the weather. Today Brady and I are hanging out while daddy has to go into work for a few hours (on a Sunday---yuk!) as his department is starting up a new system today. We'll have fun and run a few errands, etc.


Posing by the scarecrow





The boys with the kids (not a sight we see alot when all haning out so we had to get a pic!)...Andy/Brady, Jon/and I'm not sure which boy he has! and Travis/Tessa

Jenn and the Twin train...it was so cute, the boys climbed on her and then sat right in front of each other!

Playtime!

Here are some random shots of Brady playing!












Where have we been?

Okay so I've been bad at updating lately! We've had lots going on, that's for sure! Last week our babysitter took some time off for her son's wedding so Brady was able to go back to Kimballton to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Petersen. He had a great time! He has been cutting 2 more bottom teeth so last weekend he had a fever and was a little crabby and just wasn't himself but he's back to his happy self now! Yay! We had another busy week at work this week and it's already Sunday now and so it's off to another busy week! I know this isn't much of an update but Brady will be waking up any minute and I wanted to post a little something!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I'm a Big Boy!

I snaped some pictures of Brady standing up at his activity table in the basement. He is pulling himself up, he's getting to be such a big boy! Before we know it, he'll be walking all over the place!





10 Months Old!

Our baby boy turned 10 months old on October 6th. Every month seems to go by faster and faster. He is doing more and more things every day. He is crawling all over the place, pulling himself up onto everything, talking up a storm (although we don't really know what he's saying) and he LOVES to be read to. Books seem to be some of his favorite toys these days. When you read to him he just gets a huge smile on his face and will stare at you when you start and then look at the book---it is sooo cute. He is getting harder and harder to get to sit still while taking pictures so after a few attempts we decided to take the monthly picture while he was in the bathtub.

Mommy, I'm on the go and too busy to sit still for a picture!


I love bath time!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Chicago Marathon...

On Friday, our group left for Chicago so we could all run the marathon on Sunday. There was a large group of friends and co-workers from Wellmark (where I used to work) that I've stayed in touch with. The drive there wasn't so great as it rained the entire time and driving around downtown Chicago can be a little stressful but Mollie did a great job! Once we checked in to our hotel we took a cab to the Expo. This is the place where you go and pick up your bib number and your chip (to wear on your shoe and it times your race as opposed to going with just the gun time...this is your true race time). At these Expos, there are tons of running/fitness/wellness related vendors that hand out free samples, etc and have all the latest gadgets to test out. After hitting the Expo we went to Timothy O'Toole's for some dinner as we were all starving. Then on Saturday we got up and did lots of shopping! Yay! The walking around helps to keep our legs loose. We hit up Nike Town first and it was really cool that on the outside of the store they had 2 big areas with all 45,000 runner's names posted on there. We all found our names and tried taking pictures of it. Well since my last name starts with a C I was really close to the top so we tried our best to get pics of it...(I'll post later). Later that afternoon we met at a great Italian restaurant to 'carb up'...the food was awesome---really authentic. We were all waiting for some mafia fellas to walk in! ha ha! After our late lunch we headed back to the hotel to relax and give our legs some time to repair for the big day. We watched most of the Iowa game--go Hawks! and then went to bed. Sunday was an early morning (4:30 a.m.) and we got all ready (and nervous) and headed out to the frozen tundra (it was in like the 30's) to wait for the race to start around 6 a.m. The guns went off at 7:30 and the race began.......Mollie and I ran together for the 1st 16 miles and then she needed a potty break so I kept forging ahead. The route was great and there were lots of spectators and then I realized that I was on pace to have my best race ever! I may have started out a little too fast and so I slowed down a bit to ensure that I wouldn't have to walk or drag myself across the finish line...I felt really good for the most part but my legs started killing me around mile 22...my feet burned with every step I took, my right calf felt like it was going to explode and both hips ached with every step but I refused to stop. I figured the faster I ran (which wasn't fast at this point), the sooner I'd finish...thank goodness for everyone cheering on the sidelines as when you're running with only your thoughts, it's easy to give up. So I just plugged away and finished in 3:44.36---my best time ever! This was my 4th marathon and I can safely say, my last!!!! Today I feel like I was hit by a bus and I'm sooooo sore....why do I do these things to myself? Ha!

While I was in Chicago, it was boys weekend at our house. Andy and Brady spent some quality time together. On Saturday they had a birthday party to go to and on Sunday they met Nels and Cindy, Brad, Jaxson and Nel's sister for lunch. I know that Andy was very happy to get to see them. Since they've moved to North Carolina we don't get to see them as much. I'm sad that I wasn't able to go but I know they enjoyed their time.

All in all it was a great weekend! We had a fun time in Chicago and it was a nice little get-a-way, but I did miss my boys A LOT! :-)


Our group (Mollie, Marie, Mat, Kelli, Joe, Karmel, Mindee, Tammy, Julie, Cindy, Julie N and me)

This was the wall with the names of all the participants for the run (can you find my name?? ha ha! I couldn't get high enough to my name so I thought I would just show the bigger picture

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Fall Fun...

Today we have had such a busy day so far! Of course it started with our built-in alarm clock (Brady) at 5:45 a.m. I was out the door by 7:00 a.m. to go to HyVee (which is the best time to go!!) to run some errands and I also hit up Target. Andy did some things around the house like mowing and we also got some moldings cut for our mirrrors (thanks to Jenn's dad!!). Then we headed up to Cambridge to go to the Center Grove Orchard. They have lots of fun things for kiddos up there, all of which Brady will really love next year. He was just a little to small yet this year but he had a great time none the less. They have lots of animals to pet/feed, a full apple orchard, hay rides, corn mazes, etc...lots of fun! We had a great time and can't wait until next year already!




Brady's new trick--clapping!

'Mommy, the sun is bright!!'







By the baby goats





Watching daddy feed the goats



Mommy and Brady in the old school house


Trying an apple cider donut--he definitely approved!

Listening to the band with daddy--yes, they even had a band there!







To Nana & Papa's House We Go...

On Friday, Andy took a half day and I was off early so we headed up to Gowrie. We had intended to all go to the football game but since the weather was less than ideal, only Andy and his dad went. We were able to visit for a while before the boys headed to the game. Andy was able to see Prairie Valley win (they are undefeated so far this season!) so he was really happy about that. Kris and I watched a movie after Brady went to bed. On Saturday, we went and visited some garage sales, we came home with a couple finds. Unfortunately both Steve and Kris had to work on Saturday so it was a short trip but we all had a great time! After our visit we headed to West Des Moines to run some errands (mainly go to Costco, etc). The rest of our evening was pretty laid back.



Brady and Papa

Brady and Nana doing one of Brady's favorite things---reading books!
Brady is fully crawling ALL over the place--he's a mad man!
Someone was tuckered out after our visit!