U.S.A!!

We have been consumed by the Olympics.  It's on all.day.long!  I can't help it, it's just so much fun to watch!  Ethan has been getting into it as well... Practicing his diving last night :) and tonight he was doing some vault practice.

Nora was pretty excited too!

In her Opening Ceremony outfit!

And this one was just too cute!

Two 3 Year Olds!

We were finally able to get Braden and Ethan together for them to celebrate their birthdays.  They were born 2 days apart, in the same hospital together and have been together pretty much every since.  Due to some sickness issues, they weren't able to be at each other's parties.  But we had a great time last week, and the boys did too.

Having some Birthday Dirt with worms!

Present time!

This is what Ethan got and he loves it!  He is always wanting to do the 'puzzles'.

9 Months!

We have a 9 month old today. It seems crazy, but it's true! Nora is everywhere with her new found freedom. She is the sweetest!




A few things about Nora at 9 months...
She has 5 teeth
She is starting to eat finger foods and loves it. She has had peas, carrots, bananas, cheese, a little watermelon and, of course, puffs and yogurt melts.




She can and has pulled up to standing on various furniture, but doesn't do it often.
Her favorite things to crawl to are cords and flip flops.
She still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps all night- about 8:30pm to 6:30-7am.




She weighs 20 lbs (according to our bathroom scale). Her 9 mo checkup is next week.
She loves to crawl over to her piano and turn the music pages.




She likes balls...and there are plenty around here.




She's still a mama's girl :).
She shares her toys with her big brother...




She is growing up so fast and we are enjoying every minute, or at least trying to! We love you Nora D!






P.S. I apologize if the pictures look blurry...our computer has died (for now) and I'm posting from the iPad. I don't know how to fix this! Hopefully our computer will be up and running again soon.

Family time in SO IL

We headed down to our parents houses for the weekend. We were there to celebrate 2 things...Jared's grandma Collier's 84th birthday and the 'going away' of Amanda, Hazel, and Callum (my cousin, Phillip has already moved out to Oregon). We got in some other family fun while there, of course.
Ethan has been asking when we will go dig in Grandpa's garden, so we made sure to get that done this weekend. Grandpa Mark had lots and lots of potatoes for Ethan to help dig up. He had a great time and cooled down afterwards with some water balloon, hose and pool time with Grandma Karen.
























Nora had fun in the pool too, and enjoyed watching everything else!




That evening, we went to the birthday celebration/fish fry. It was so great to see everyone, as most of the grand kids and great-grand kids made the trip.
Deb and Grandma, opening her cards.




Nora enjoying some time with Pam, Dennis and Grandpa.




We wanted to be sure to get a picture of all the grand kids and great grand kids, before anyone left. I think it turned out pretty great, considering the amount of people...there has been quite the baby boom among the Collier cousins!




And now one of Grandma Collier with her kids :). Happy Birthday! I hope to celebrate many many more with you!




Abby and Alex and several of our were also in town, so the kids played a lot! Since it has been so hot, a lot of the outside play time included water, and we made a trip to the Salem Family Aquatic Center.
Haley and Ethan, enjoying the waterslide.








My dad was trying to keep the lawn watered...not so easy this summer, but the kids had fun running through the sprinklers!




Ethan and Haley played a lot of Wii golf too...




This one was just too cute not to post :).




The kids who were present when Amanda came to say goodbye with Hazel and Callum.




Hazel, Haley, Caleb - Ethan, Nora, Callum and Katie




We will miss you all! But I can't wait to come out and visit!

Around the House

I'm behind on blogging! Sorry. In attempt to catch up, I have some photos from around the house to share.

Ethan, loving on his sister :)



She's quite the ham sometimes...


And, so is he!






Nora is crawling up a storm around here, and getting into everything. Her favorite 'no no' are cords. Here she is checking out behind the chair.





Nora also loves to play her piano. She crawls right over and gets up on her knees...so cute!



Ethan's hiding place. Don't tell him I told you :).






Last week, I had girls night out! Friends of ours (Rick and Sarah) who we met through small group, moved yesterday to Minnesota. So the girls of the small group decided to go out to dinner sans children. Rick was already in Minnesota for work, so she dropped Austin (also 3) off to hang with Jared, Ethan and Nora. Austin and Ethan have a great time playing and this was no exception! We will miss their family.

Nora Crawls!

We're fully mobile in this house now!  Nora started crawling 'for real' over the weekend, but is still be happy sitting with her toys around her.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she is into everything!  Here's the best video I could get our new crawler.  Oh, and she claps now, so I was trying to get her to do that too :)!

I'm excited about this milestone...but not excited about the 'baby-proofing' that comes with it.

Putt Putt Ethan

We took Ethan to Paul's Puttin Place last night.  It was his first putt putt experience and he had a blast!  He was, however, pretty disappointed when he hit his ball in the last hole and it was gone.  He didn't understand why it took his ball!

He actually got a par on this one!  3 hits and it was in the hole!

He RAN everywhere...

And ran some more!

Happy, sweaty boy

Unlike the putt putt we are used to (Dairy Mart with ice cream afterwards), there was no ice cream here, so we had to make a stop on our way home.

Ethan with his Rickie Fowler, ice cream mustache.  I looked at him, he smiled and said "I just growed it!" 

Water Day 2012

The annual Water Day at the church was yesterday.  We went last year and Ethan had so much fun so we went again this year.  Ethan had just as much fun, maybe more since he was able to do the bigger slides this year.  Nora had a blast splashing in the baby pools and even found some water guns to play with!

The 'Big Kid' Slides

Splashing down

Nice form

Nora and her friend, Kelton splashing in the baby pool

Showing off her guns!