Family Photo Outing

We took family photos today with Greg Benz with CarbonSilver Photography. We went to Brant Lake Park and walked on the trails to find some good lighting. Greg is one of Matt's college friends boyfriends. He was so great with Nora, although Nora did NOT want to smile. Overall it was a great photo session and now we just need to figure out WHAT photos we want to get. There were so many adorable ones. Here are a few cute ones from the beautiful Fall day.

Nora 11 Months Old!

Nora is 11 months old and she is getting so big. She is almost walking and has turned into quite the 'Chatty Kathy." She is quite the drama queen....she doesn't get that from me so it must be another trait that is from her father's side!! She LOVES getting her way and will let you know when she is angry because she is NOT getting her way (she has this horrible whine that is added to this scrunched up angry face....it is hard to not laugh at her!)

She loves:

Crawling on her toes with her butt in the air like a monkey

Walking around the coffee table

Crawling over daddy's legs

Eating all kinds of foods

Her Bottle

Saying Dada

Smashing her food to smithereens (she takes crackers and just smashes them in her hands and giggles!!)

New tricks she has mastered (OK well not quite mastered) but can do when she is in the right MOOD:

"how big is Nora?"..... raising her hands for "So Big!"

Clapping

High Fiving

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Climbing the stairs

She Does NOT Like:

Being told NO

When mommy or daddy are out of her sight

Poor Nora!!!!!

I brought Nora into the clinic about 3 weeks ago because her eye was gooping and she was pulling at her ears. The doctor said "nothing wrong" she is probably just teething and likes pulling her ears and quote "she is on the mend"! WELL...fast forward 3 weeks and she has had a cough, running nose, goopy eye, and has been pulling her ears everyday since then. I was trying to NOT be that parent who brings her kid into the clinic all the time, but after 3 weeks of coughing all night and uncrusting her poor eyes in the morning I brought her in. She has an ear infection, Poor Nora! Now she is on some medicine which is making her feel better, but sure gives her some dirty diapers!!! She now is NOT coughing, does NOT have a goopy eye, does not have a runny nose and only pulls at her ears when she puts food in her hair/ears!

Halloween Weekend

Matt loves Halloween. He loves the scary movies, the ghosts, the spiders, the costumes....but we BOTH love the candy! Matt wanted to go to any Halloween party that would hand out candy to our little VIkings Cheerleader (so we could eat it!!) Nora went to our local Community Center's Halloween Party where she made a Tootsie Roll Pop Dracula and saw Arthur from PBS (& the books!!) She also went trick or treated at her grandparents house where we all stayed for chili and the Vikings Game. Poor Nora was VERY disappointed with how the Vikings played....what are they doing? They have Brett, Randy, Adrian....come on guys!! Get it together! Nora was all tuckered out after chasing the dog and playing with Auntie Katie and Uncle Adam. Grandma and Grandpa's neighbora, Lisa made pumpkin pie and OH WAS IT GOOD!!

Happy Halloween....next year we have to come up with a better more inspiring costume though!

so sad that her Vikings are SO HORRIBLE!!

Making a Dracula with a tootsie pop, red cellophane, and black velvet

Nora at our community center

Nora and Amber posing with Tigger at the community center

Stopped at Qdoba and if a child colored a photo you got a free kids meal!!!
The first time Nora colored!

Nora at Volleyball Practice!!!!

Our babysitter did not show up today so I ended up having to bring Nora to practice. She was VERY overwhelmed by all 23 girls!!! It took her a while to warm up and even then she was luke warm. I couldn't set her down without her getting scared, which is interesting becuase I haven't seen that 'stranger danger' side of her before. Nora finally did let me put her down and OF COURSE that is when a girl spiked the ball which ricocheted off the net which hit a different girls' leg which then rolled under the net to where she was and hit her and made her tumbled backwards!!! She was not very happy after that so it was good that Matt left work a little bit early to pick her up. I didn't want her to completely take over practice (we had a big game against Chanhassen the next day)

Nora hanging out in the ball court at practice with the girls

New Teeth

Nora now has 4 teeth - 2 top and 2 bottom. She looks so different now! She loves eating all different kinds of food now. She eats bread and rips pieces off using her teeth. It took about 3 weeks for each top tooth to finally break through, so I guess we will see how long it takes for all the rest of the teeth to come in.

Nora, the Farmer??

Nora and I took a trip to my parents house to see my parents. We made flat bread and lefse and we helped my dad with some farming...ok well my mom helped and Nora and I watched. Nora got to hang out with Matt's cat, Wally. She also got a visit from some of her cousins. Nora and Wally

Nora and JT, she was loving hanging out with her cousin

Nora and I helping unload grain at the farm

Grandma getting Nora ready for church, Nora is not digging the hat!

So tired after a long weekend at the farm!!!

Daycare

Nora and I are going to daycare now. A neighbor runs an in-home daycare, and Nora and I go over and help out. Ok, well it is mostly me helping out and Nora meeting new friends. Nora started out being really timid and not really knowing what to do with the other kids, but now she loves getting in al the kids business and crawlilng around the house getting into EVERYTHING. It is a really nice commute (just across the street), I am sure once winter hits it will be harder and a worse commute!!!

Apple Orchard with Simply Connected Group

Simply Connected Group....such a fun and blessed day!

Family Photo

Nora, Kensie, Eisley, Emmett

Nora in the Pumpkin Patch

Nora eating her apple straight from the tree

We went to Deardorffs Apple Orchard in Waconia with our Simply Connected Group. We went and picked apples from the trees, we rode on a tractor/wagon ride, we saw some bunnies & llamas, oh and we also tasted some wine. It again was a wonderful sunny day in MN so it was the perfect day to be at the orchard. Nora loved sitting in the pumpkins and crawled all over the trailer that drove us around the farm.

Random Photos of Nora....getting so big

Here are some photos of Nora, she is getting so big. Every day is so fun becuase she is learning how to wave hello/goodbye & clap her hands. She loves smiling and giving kisses. She finally got her top tooth....we had been waiting 3 weeks for it to pop through. She still loves her daddy, and I am chopped liver!

Nora loves crawling and her favorite obstacle course is her highchair

I put her hair in a funny little bow....too cute huh?

Nora loves eating....another trait of her daddy's

Nora gets food EVERYWHERE!!! It is in her hair, her shirt, her pants, her diaper, her fingernails, squished onto her tray....EVERYWHERE. Here she has mac & cheese all over her face and hair.

Sleepy time at the dinner table?!

Dinner with Friends

We hadn't hung out with our friends Tony and Erin for quite sometime. We decided to meet them from dinner. The weather was beautiful so we tried to find a patio in Eden Prairie, Green Mill was full, Jakes was full, so we ended up at Old Chicago. It was a great night OUTSIDE in MN. Who would've guessed that October 8th would be 85 degrees outside. This is why I LOVE our state.

Tony and Matt

Erin, Amber and Nora

Book Group

Our book group photo. Besty is so good at taking a photo at each session! We were wearing our Twins gear hoping to cheer them on internally......book group is from 6:30 to 8:30 and the game started at 7:30 so Matt did not turn on the radio or his phone until we got home and he turned on the tv which taped the game from the start!

Nora 10 Months Old

Yes......Nora is 10 months old.

If she ever sat still I would take some photos of her with her 10 month old blocks! Hopefully they will be posted soon!

A Friends Wedding...

We went to one of Matt's college friends wedding today. It was way over in Mahtomedi!!!! What a hike from Chaska, MN. It was a beautiful day though and I always think it is fun to go to weddings and remember our own, and since our 5 year anniversary was yesterday it was very special going and hearing the vows! Nora was AWESOME for only having a little nap on the car trip over there. On a side note: We listened to the UST Tommies defeat St. Johns in football for the first time in 14 years on the way ---GO TOMMIES GO! The wedding was beautiful, the songs were so touching and the bride and groom were so in love!

Nora's cute little outfit

Nora's drool!

JoJo and Nora (Nora has changed into her pajamas at this point in the night!!)

5 years together....

The love of my life and I got married 5 years ago today. Wow, 5 years! That makes me feel OLD! We have so enjoyed each other and have LOVED being married. It was 80 degrees out on October 1st, 2005. We got married at my hometown church and the reception was at a nearby casino....I know, reeeeeal CLASSY! The day was beautiful, I wish you could get married every 5 years so you could feel that giddiness of love! It is funny how quickly you fall into a routine and forget the deep LOVE you have! Sometimes we just need to sit down and remind each other!!!! 5 years has gone so fast--we have laughed, we have cried, we have yelled, we have fought, but most importantly we have LOVED!

beautiful cake huh?
beautiful girls huh?

Thank you again for everyone who was there at the wedding and helped celebrate our special day!