Waterpark Fun!

What route does Grandma Pam take to get home from Illinois? Well the route that goes to a waterpark of course!

 Aunt Laurie met us at the Wisconsin Dells to give Grandma Pam a ride back to SD after our travels to Nashville. Auntie spoiled the kiddos. How could she say 'no' to these cute smiles when they asked to ride the merry-go-round?! 

Kylie loved all of the attention! 

 Since it was October, the waterpark had evening trick-o-treating and a costume parade. 

Two scary sharks and a ballerina joined the fun!

Their first stop trick-o-treating. Thankfully the resort handed out some fun non-candy treats. 

 Kylie's first time enjoying a wave pool. She loved crawling around and splashing. 

 Thanks Aunt Laurie and Grandma Pam for all the fun memories......including our many walks to Panera:)

October 2015 Adventures with Grandma & Grandpa!

In October I spoke at the annual food and nutrition conference in Nashville, TN. This is a competitive opportunity for an oral presentation, so I couldn't pass up the experience, but didn't want to leave all the kiddos for that long. Luckily, it was Grandma & Grandpa to the rescue!!

The boys waited all day for them to arrive. 

The next day Grandma Pam, Kylie, and I left for Nashville, TN. Since I thought there was a time change (oops- no, there is not) we left super early--and clearly made it with plenty of time before my first meeting. 

This is Kylie's "What? We are stopping at McDonald's for you to get coffee, but I don't get a french fry--face." 

 During our stay, Grandma Pam entertained Kylie while I was at meetings. Kylie started walking between things like the couch and the table....she is officially on-the-move!

 If you are ever planning on visiting Nashville.....I would recommend not taking a baby:) Ha! Truly, in the evening it was difficult to find a family-friendly place to eat downtown. It reminded me of the movie Sweet Home Alabama's scene......"You have a baby. In a bar."!!!

 My mom was my guest at the food Expo....what a treat! If you've never been.....it can be overwhelming. So much free stuff. Kylie slept through a lot of it, and drew much attention. She wore a button, "Registered Dietitian Nutritionist In Training!" 

And the boys? Well, all four of them survived just fine in Normal. Evan and Jaden were spoiled with attention from Grandpa. I love this picture on the left.......attention span of four year olds. Appears they convinced Grandpa to fly a kite and then quickly lost interest and decided to play stomp rocket instead!
Grandpa brought his home-grown pumpkins for them to carve spook-tacular jack-o-laterns. 

A short detour on the drive home through Southern Illinois Wineries....enjoying beautiful fall weather. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the week of fun!

September 2015 Recap....Kylie's 7 Months Pics

Although the beginning of September usually marks the end of summer, the weather remained nice so the kids got to play outside frequently. 

A couple weekends in a row we visited the zoo and even had a picnic there.

 September 7th- Kylie stood up in crib by herself. 

Friends! Miss Lainey and Kylie.

Evan, Tucker, Jaden. AKA: Superheroes!

I don't remember why, but I took all three kids to Hy-Vee. Somehow, the kids were very well behaved! The boys even were given balloons at the checkout area for waiting patiently-at least that is what I heard, maybe it was to keep them occupied while trying to be patient.....

September marked the month were I really saw Kylie interact and 'play' with the boys. Evan and Jaden sometimes had a different agenda, but nonetheless, it was fun to watch them play. 

 Just a typically laundry day.....the real question here is, who is under the laundry basket?

 September 25th - Kylie pulled herself up and walked along couch.....the picture on the left shows what the boys thought about her trying to get their book!! And the picture on the right, well, let's just say Kylie is growing up to be one tough little girl!

 Guess who taught Kylie how to play 'zoo' and walk around pushing her 'cage?' Oh the imaginations of 4-year-olds!

Kylie turned 7 months old on September 24th. 

There is nothing better than a snuggly sleeping baby!

Kylie Exploring New Foods

With Evan and Jaden, I was very excited to start feeding them food. With Kylie, I was a little more hesitant. Not because I didn't want her to explore new foods.....because, let's be real, feeding a baby creates two things: more dishes to wash, and a messy highchair to clean:) Reality aside, around 6 months of age, Kylie started to eat foods like rice cereal and green veggies. I tried to stick with a similar schedule as I did with the boys. Green veggies first, next orange veggies, and then fruit. There really wasn't anything she disliked. Foods in pics: kiwi, pumpkin, puffs, corn, beets, mum mums.

Grandpa Al grew pumpkins this year. I baked one of them, and instead of making pumpkin pie, I made some tasty babyfood!

The baby bullet helped puree the pumpkin. Kylie got to have some sensory fun playing with the pumpkin seeds!

When I texted my friend Brooke about all the pumpkin.....she came right over with a solution for freezing. This Infantino squeeze pouch filler was so easy to use. We made just plain pumpkin and some peaches, pumpkin and banana concoction. 

The 4-ounce pouches froze until we needed them. The portability of the pouch is so handy. Around 9 months, she was able to easily 'drink' from the pouch which makes it less messy to feed her on-the-go. 

At a later date, Brooke and I made a variety of recipes for the fruit and veggie pouches- which even included some oatmeal and flax seed!

Kylie waiting 'patiently' to taste test. 

Around 9 months she started babyfood meat, yogurt, and self-feeding our table food. The picture on the left is from my birthday- who would have imagined a picnic in December?! The picture on the right is Kylie's first treat of a graham cracker at Grandma Linda's.