Iris and Alex

Daddy took this picture of our flowering babe...

Gonna wash those germies!

The boys' first bath together (well, without Daddy in the tub)!



You wouldn't guess that Alden has croup and Alex is recovering from the same virus after a visit to the ER last Friday, now would you? We are pros when old-hat croup come and goes. The boys (all of us, really) are very tired.. bur clean!

More Spring Catch-Up...

Our Mama has good intentions regarding this blog - but can't seem to keep it up-to-date. Eh - she does the best she can. We still love her! Here are a few pics from our Spring shenanigans...


The Springtime Bunny visited our home for the first time!

Magnifying glass and a yummy hat...


A butterfly net!


Designing some of the garden with Grandma Sandy...


Planting our tomatoes and peppers...


Watering the baby seeds...

Catching Up

I am sick at home today, so time to catch up on some posting! Our whole family has actually been pretty sick for the last couple of weeks. I am the last one to catch this eye/ear/nose/chest infection. Good golly, I don't remember the last time I felt this bad. Poor Alex - he has a double ear infection that didn't respond to the first round of antibiotics and is on stronger Augmentin now, which seems to be doing the trick.

I should update on some of Alex's development otherwise, as my Mom likes to joke, we will need to put one dollar in the therapy jar for ever less post he has compared to his brother.

Turning 9 months on April 27th, Alex weighed in at 19 lbs, 6 oz at the doc's office. Alden weighed in at about this much when he was 15 months old (adjusted to 12 months at the time, but still). Alden is right now in 3 year old clothing, weighing in at about 30 lbs. He is still small for his age, but is steadily growing, so his doctor isn't concerned. She said that he could still, and probably will, have a catch-up growth spurt in the future. But he will NEVER be chunky.

So, back to catching up on posting. Alex got his first tooth on April 18th. He has yet to get another. As you see in the pic above, he plays peek-a-boo. He can wave "hi" and "bye." He says "Da-Da" non-specifically. He signs "Milk" while nursing and eating and really anytime he sees me. He lunges onto all fours to go after something, then flops into his tummy and grunts, wiggles, and rolls around in frustration to his destination. He LOVES his kitties. He's shy around strangers. He likes to eat books and most foods. I am making Alex's baby food this time - I was too stressed to experiment with things like making baby food and cloth diapering with Alden. I must say that it is so much fun to watch Alex eat fresh food creations.

I compared Alex and Alden's (adjusted) development - and they are SO similar. It is a bit of a relief (for Alden's sake) that they are virtually identical.

Alex's head is also larger than average, not as large as Alden's, but pretty close. So there, Mr. Neurosurgeon! It's GENETIC! :)

There, consider yourself caught-up. One less dollar in the therapy jar for Alex. I feel better already.

Learning to care for my little bro...

Looking out for Alex during his first bike ride...


Alex is so easy to feed!

Happy Fourth Dinosaur Birthday, Sweet Alden!

Oh, the torture of having to wait to open all these awesome presents! Alden has waited WEEKS to turn four today!!!


Cousin Noah helps Alden open his gifts. "I got my pterodactyl!"


Alex, 7.5 months, is excited to see his brother turn 4!


This is the COOLEST cake - thank you Grandma Sandy!!!


Can I make a wish now, Mama?


Making a wish...


Alden prefers to eat his cake with dinosaur bones. He's that hard-core.

First Protest!

This blog isn't intended to be at all political (we have Facebook for that!). But I do want to document Alden and Alex's first protest. We are so proud of them! And, since both Mom and Dad are in unions.... and since Mom works for Public Health and Dad works for Public Schools, both of which are worse off after the budget bill... it only makes sense that the kiddos should protest the sad direction our state is heading! Around our home, we frequently hear Alden chanting, "Kill the Bill! Hey-hey! Ho-ho! Scott Walker has GOT TO GO! What's Disgusting? UNION BUSTING!" Here are a few pics from our month-long protest...

First protest!
February 18th:


March 5th:




March 12th:
We're so happy and thankful the Farmers joined the protest! Alden sure does love a good tractorcade!










We estimate there were at least 100,000 protesters today. The City of Madison states that this protest was bigger than those held during the Vietnam war. Alden and Alex will be proud to know that they were a part of this historic time.