Champion of Men

Every other week or so the men gather at our house for what I call "Man Night." On average, we have 6 guys over for dinner and the guys play some sort of board game. Their usual game of choice is Game of Thrones. Things get pretty intense, these guys tend to take this pretty seriously. It was brought up a time or two that they needed something to pass from champion to champion as bragging rights be it a trophy, crown, ect ect. I figured that since some sort of beverage is served at every gathering they needed a cup, a manly cup. So came to pass the "Champion of Men" goblet. Lucas was the first winner and proudly displayed it on a shelf in his office at work and wold drink his morning coffee out of it. David was the winner before E's Bee-Day and brought it to her party as his cup. This last go Jakob was finally crowned victor. Combine that with his fancy new bow tie and suspenders... what a catch. Good golly I love this man... even if he is a total nerd.

Summer Kickoff

 It doesn't get much better than days like today. Peanut and I met up with friend Missy Lowe and her darling daughter Zada for a picnic at the park and a kickoff to Summer. The sun was nice and hot and the water was perfectly chilly. Combine that with food and friends... it doesn't get much better than that. 

 Allow me to introduce you to little Z. She is such a sweetheart. Z was born 11 weeks premature and was just over 3 lbs. Itty bitty baby girl. Now at 4 months she is 8 lbs... the average size of a newborn. It's a little bit strange to see someone so tiny holding her head up. Such a doll! 

E looks like a giant next to Z.

 E was loving the watermelon. She'd run in the water then run back to stuff her cheeks full before zipping off to play some more.  She is one busy girl!

Tiny toes... my favorite! It was a wonderful afternoon! I am so grateful for Missy and Zada. They always seem to brighten my day! This is going to be a wonderful summer. Can't wait to see the Chad Tobler family tomorrow! I have a feeling E is going to love the beach.

Cactus Bum

 A little while back, Ethnie and I headed over to Gramma's for a leisurely afternoon of swimming. E isn't the biggest fan of swimming. She's usually in and out of the pool 15 times and spends most of her time running around the edge.  Well on this particular adventure, Mama had thought to bring a ball thinking that she might enjoying hanging onto it in the water. WRONG. Peanut would throw it in the pool and holler for us to bring it back to her or bounce it in the rocks. Can you see where this is going?

 It was rather windy and quite chilly outside of the water so anytime the ball would go into the rocks we'd let E retrieve it. Both Mom and I could see the events before they transpired, it's as if it happened in slow motion. The ball rolled under the short little palm tree and E crawled under to retrieve it. She stood up while still under the branches and fell back onto this barrel cactus. It got her full on! I jumped out of the pool and grabbed her and Mom and I examined the extent of the damage while the little tears rolled from her eyes. Fortunately it didn't leave any spurs inside but the spots she got poked were already red and puffy and some had started to bleed. Let me tell you it was one of those awesome Mommy Moments. Not! 

 Here's her little tooshy the following evening after bath time. Thankfully she was wearing a diaper when she fell! She didn't complain when she was being held and she had no problem letting me clean them with peroxide and cream. She's a trooper. Needless to say we learned our lesson and cover the cactus every time we go over to swim now.

Early Art

 I introduced Peanut to chalk the other day. She was into it for about a minute and then had better things to do... like color on herself, stick the chalk in her mouth and smear all of Mama's drawings. 

 She had one colorful bottom. 

 It still may be awhile before she's into coloring but she makes me smile. Love her with all my heart!

Our Little Man

I just love ultrasounds. I honestly think I could sit there all afternoon just marveling at our little man. (Yes he's still a boy.) Since they thought E had a choroid plexus cyst, they sent me to a high risk clinic where I got to have ultrasounds every visit (every three- four weeks). This time however we've had a very normal pregnancy which I am very grateful for but I miss all of those ultrasounds.

Duke was pretty still, he was blinking and sticking his tongue out. I also caught a glimpse of him practicing breathing. He now looks like such a baby and size wise is ahead of his due date by 2 weeks.

According to his measurements he should be here by July 30th. His head is measuring a week ahead of that. (Nothing surprising there. They said the same thing about E. I mean have you seen the size of Jakob's head?! Woah Mama!)  So we may have the privilege of meeting little Duke earlier than expected. 

I was also informed that once again our doctor is going on vacation the day I'm due so if Duke is as stubborn as Ethnie then I will be induced once again. Either way he will be here by the 2nd of August. I am both thrilled and nervous. Having two little ones is going to keep me busy but I am beyond excited to meet our little man. I can't wait to snuggle him!

Memorial Weekend

 Memorial weekend was divine! We started things off by painting my nails all festively. A little nail polish goes a long way. 

Peanut was rocking her Red, White and Blue from Friday through Monday. If there's a reason to color coordinate I am so there! Jakob was lucky enough to get off at 2:00 on Friday so we enjoyed an relaxing evening together as  family. 

Isn't she a big girl now?!

 Saturday, Mom Tobler and I finally got to go yard sale-ing. No exciting treasures, but it was wonderful to be able to go! Upon returning home I made some mini German pancakes topped with berries and real whipped cream. DE-LICIOUS!! I then headed out for my final day of work as I'm now on maternity leave. It was bitter sweet.

Sunday was filled with choir, church, meetings and spending the evening with Mom and Dad Tobler. Peanut was so beyond excited to see her Grampa. Those two are so stinking cute.

 Monday Mom and I headed off to Savers. 50% off?! Heck yes! On my way home I had to stop in for my first 49¢ Slurpee. I've been craving these like crazy! 

 Peanut enjoyed some of Mama's second Slurpee too! 

 We headed up north to go to the splash park with Mom and Dad. It was a beautiful warm day! E was a little bit nervous at first but soon she was right in there! 

 She was brave enough to go down the big slide all by herself. She was wet so she got stuck. Her shadow totally reminded me of a little frog. Love this girl!

Just a girl and her Grampa! We finished off our fun weekend with hamburgers with the missionaries, an evening stroll and visiting with the neighbors. It was such a fun weekend! I'm rather excited to now be on maternity leave so we can have many more adventures as a family! 

As always I would like to take a moment to thank those who have and continue to serve this country. You fight for our freedoms so we do not have to and I am so grateful for your sacrifice!

A First for Mama

 I can no longer claim to be a "Starbucks Virgin." We were having a morning with the ladies which is how I ended up here. Amy loves Starbucks and I love muffins. Perfect. I couldn't leave however without getting some sort of bever-age (it sounds better when you say it all fancy.) Peppermint hot chocolate when it's 90 degree's out. I must be turning into a Vegas Native (just like Canadians drink Slurpee's when it's -40F.) I have to admit the coca was good and the muffins were yummy but I happen to like my homemade ones better. (Plus it's much cheaper.)

Peanut was all about Mama's coca and muffin. Mmmm mmmm.

Bad Hair Day

 Well it was fine until Daddy took out the hair tie. I just love that little unicorn horn! 

Or days when she decides she doesn't want any pretty's in her hair. For the most part she has no problem letting me get her all dolled up. It's just when she discovers that there is something in her hair to pull out that we have an issue. She's such a sweet heart. Hopefully one day her hair will be long enough for me to braid.