Father's Day 2015

The kiddos wanted to say, "Happy Father's Day," Nathan!!

And our attempt at replicating the popular poster,
'You Been Farming Long?'

Happy Father's Day, Grandpa Al!!

Only Child

One baby really is a piece of cake! Seriously. Nathan and I were fortunate to experience life with only one baby the end of June. After Aunt Laurie and Grandma Pam were in Illinois for a few days, they bravely drove Evan and Jaden back with them to South Dakota! The boys spent a week playing 'farmer' and were spoiled at Grandpa and Grandma's house! We will have to ask Grandma Pam for a guest post to get the details of their week!

Only in South Dakota.......

I was told this equated to a third or fourth outfit change of the day!

Buddies.

Evan could play in the sand pile for hours.

Meanwhile....back at our ranch in Illinois......Kylie was also being spoiled:) 

Shhhh. Don't tell her brothers!

One of the biggest difference with only one baby, well, there are many, but I would say time. 

Bedtime - quick and easy. 

The time it takes to get ready to go somewhere-very little. 

Loading and unloading the car-seriously, easy-peasy. 

Maybe it's the difference of toddlers versus baby, but regardless, I seemed to have lots of time the week with Kylie. If you are Fitbit friends with me, you saw that there was one particular week I had 160K steps. Yup-it was this week. Now don't get me wrong. I wouldn't exchange Evan and Jaden for more time. But it is an amazing difference. 

 A big change for Kylie was with the ability to roll over.....which led to discontinuing swaddling as this is how I began to find her in the morning.

I started with just swaddling her torso and leaving her arms out. She would almost immediately flip. I am happy to report that after two days, I completely stopped swaddling and she transitioned just fine. She loves to sleep on her tummy and cuddles right up to the crib edge to sleep.

Week of Fun with Seven Crazy Kiddos!

Nathan's family friend, James, and his family came to visit on their way to a wedding. Evan and Jaden had so much fun following the big kids around all week. Unfortunately with the rainy summer, it undoubtedly rained half of the time they were here. 
Within 30 minutes of their arrival, we had 6 very muddy yet very happy children! Who knew that by rolling down a hill a day after a week of rain you could be covered in mud?! 

 We did find plenty of time between rain to swim!!

 And everyone needed their picture taken with Kylie! :)

The girls also got to pick out Kylie's clothes and dress her every day:) 

The boys' first sleep over!

Best Buds!

Wild and Crazy Fun at the Zoo!

Thanks to a generous birthday gift, we have enjoyed our family zoo pass this year. The boys love to walk around and visit all of the animals- in their particular order! Grandma Pam introduced the boys to the carousel, so that becomes part of our routine most days. And let's not forget the veggie snacks half way through the zoo tour as well. 
The boys have double the fun when Tucker and Lainey come along!

Finding the swimming turtles. 

 Best Buds!

 Yes. A cockroach!! 

 Boys and bugs. A way of life I guess. 

Miller Park splash park!

BFF's Kylie and Lainey!