Productivity is a relative term

The past couple of weeks have been filled with tons of rain and lot of attempts at productivity.  Matt has tried to get at the lawn between rainfalls…I’ve attempted to keep up with picking up toys, laundry & directing energy.  I am most thankful that our basement has stayed dry during the record rains.  Last weekend we made it to Grandma Kratzke’s 80th Birthday celebration and this past weekend a family reunion.  We had lots of fun playing with other kids & seeing our family.  Stuart handles the large family gatherings really well.

Matt has been gone on business the past couple of days so it has been “mama time”.  It went well and I realized that what needs to be done isn’t as much as I’d like to get done.  When I’m here alone I only do what needs to be done.  This may mean that some things get put off for a day or two, but I’m much more sane in the long run.  This past weekend we got to visit with the Larson Family.  We joined them to swim at their hotel in town & then had them over on Sunday.  It was nice to have them over….it is much more comfortable to have guests at our new home!

Today Matt came home and we went on a family bike ride.  After riding to A & W for a little treat we headed home and both boys fell asleep.  Stuart did well on his first bike ride in the carrier/bike trailer.  Today was a beautiful, a nice change from the rainy weather we’ve been having!  The other fun we’ve been enjoying is Stuart as a crawling critter!  He has gotten quite quick with his army crawl.  It is fun to see him eye something up and then take off toward it.   It is time for me to get on the ground  see what he sees and make the necessary adjustments!

George enjoying the New Holstein Parade.

The Happy Grill Master

Kratzke Family - Grandma's 80th Party

The joy of cheerios!

Play Doh Fun

Stu feeds himself!

Getting Settled

We are in the new house and are really enjoying it.  We have most of the necessities unpacked which makes the other boxes more difficult to unpack. The first couple of days have been eventful with a visit from Tim & Linda, meeting neighbors, and playing outside.  George loves his ‘playground’ swing set, played in a pool, got a new truck that he drives very seriously around the yard, and played with bubbles.  It is so nice to open the doors & let him play outside! We hooked up the sprinkler this week and it is great to have a little relief from the heat.  Stuart is adjusting fine and starting to try to pull himself up onto his knees.  He still isn’t crawling but it will come soon.  He is enjoying rolling and twisting around to see what he wants & get where he wants. However, it is most obvious that Stuart’s favorite part of the house are the ceiling fans.

We have had visitors, in addition to Tim & Linda coming my parents helped us move a little bit and played with the boys for a night so we could have a night to ourselves to start the setting process.  It allowed Matt to get George’s room all set complete with new blue paint and his assembled bunk bed.  George loved coming home the first time to his new room.  We have since let him put up some of the Cars wall clings….basically decorative stickers for the wall.  Neat idea!

Heidi & James came last weekend and spent the night…it is SO nice to have a guest bedroom.  Guests are welcome anytime!  They went to the fireworks with us and a couple of our friends (Michelle & Dave).  Sunday & Monday we spend celebrating Tim’s 60th Birthday in Franklin Park.  It was great to see so many family members at the party…George had lots of fun going all over, playing with the pond, helping out, and being in the yard (beautiful again this year!).

This weekend we are playing it low…I hope to get some pretty things up…unpack some collectibles, put up some pictures, catch up on the Stuart’s calendar & baby book…..and maybe hit a local fun place with the boys today.  Tomorrow we head to New Holstein for the parade with mom & dad, that should be tons of fun…I know George will love it!

Stuart is becoming much more verbal….lots of mah mah, bah ba la, ffff, sounds happening.  He likes to ‘talk’ in conversation now waiting for me to stop then exclaiming something important.  This is so fun…sometimes he repeats my sounds, other times he says his own thing.  We are starting to sign with him “more” and others.  He finally decided to eat baby food about 2 weeks ago…so right now he is sitting in his high chair eating mashed bananas…but as usual he finds his utensil much more enjoyable to play with.  He still has three teeth on the bottom and I don’t see any at the surface, so we’ll wait to see what happens.  We are still working on better night sleep routines….but found out that he crashes at daycare.  Once they found him passed out face down on the floor sleeping as if he just couldn’t play anymore…just yesterday he fell asleep in the bumbo with his head back.  So, he’s getting his sleep, I just prefer it to be at night.

All Packed Up

Stuart helps unpack...loves the paper!

George's Room

George's Truck

Stuart's Biscuit

Starting to get sentimental….

So it isn’t typically in my nature to think about the sappy things…but yesterday I looked at the back of George’s bedroom door where we measured his height and had a moment.  I guess in the excitement of moving forward I am realizing what we have had here.  Yes, lots of college students but we also brought our boys home here…cleaned up lots of yucky things, made tents, played in the bath tub, arranged for our Christmas tree and hid Easter Eggs.  We have only been here for 5 years and I now understand how some folks have a tough time leaving a home after many years.

Today is Father’s Day.  The boys each made gifts for Matt at school and together we got him some shirts to make the Boys Club official.  The exciting agenda for the day is to spend it packing & maybe a trip to Appleton.  We realized it is our last weekend living in this apartment and have been making progress in the packing department.  I think we have enough boxes and almost 2 storage areas with full boxes.  We are at the frustrating stage where things like metal flatware is packed and most of the things we use on a daily basis…but then again, we use so much on a daily basis we had to just do it.

The boys are doing well adjusting to the craziness.  Stuart has three visible teeth and is in a ‘hold me all the time’ phase.  Tough phase to be in when I need my arms to be packing.  He is sleeping better at night only waking for brief periods of time.  George is investigating all over the place to see what things are capable of what things.  Today it was playing in the sink for an hour with water creating water systems, testing what will float and suctioning water up with medicine syringes.  Periodically when things don’t go well you’ll hear a 3 year old sigh “Ohh Maaannnn”  Though it is frustrating to clean up after his exploring and experimenting it is also fun to see him learn.

We are excited to get into the house & make it our home.  We stopped by & noticed we have baby robins above the light near our front door.  On Thursday we will be moving most of our things in and Mom & Dad are taking the boys for the night so we can get a little settled.  Tim & Linda will be up on Saturday to hang out & watch the boys while we have a farewell soiree at Taylor Hall for a couple of hours.  There are 5 hall directors leaving this year so it will be nice to have a little time to socialize before they all take on their new adventures.

Well, enough for now, the wall of empty boxes are calling…….

George swinging right before he flipped out!

Stuart not too pleased with his swing experience.

George in his box boat...on his way to save the world!

Stuart exploring new toys.....well, eating them.

The Official Boys Club Picture

Are we there yet?

Current State of Apartment Mess

Last weekend we had a nice Memorial Day weekend.  We were able to get to my parents and have a nice relaxing visit outside and played ladder golf.  George has been talking lately about the ‘ball game that bonked him in the head’.  He & I were tossing the same ball set & I let go when he didn’t so it swung back & got him in the head.  George also had fun picking flowers with Grandma, playing in the hot tub, playing in the fort and exploring with Grandpa.  Sunday we were at a friends place for a cookout and noticed that our boys are starting to play & interact together.  This sometimes causes sharing issues, but they are learning.  Monday we watched the parade and G pointed out all the bands wearing his favorite color, blue.  The Memorial Day parade was Stuart’s first parade.  🙂

We are thinking a lot about our move now that things have been confirmed.  We will be moving in on Thursday, June 24th.  The previous owners will be out on the 23 so we scheduled movers for 8:15 am on the 24th.  We are packing (slowly) and they will just move everything.  They estimate about 3-4 hours.  We decided that after at least 30 moves for the both of us in the past years that it is worth the money to save the headache…moving is stressful enough.

So, in the meantime I feel like we could be on the show hoarders with how things are all over the place.  I swear we don’t have 3 sq ft without something in it. All part of the process.  Yesterday we stopped by the house to take a look at a few things and so I’ve posted some pictures below. Other updates this past couple of weeks include exciting milestones for Stuart.  He decided to eat baby food.  He seems to like sweet potatoes the most so far and the little puffs that dissolve in his mouth with a little chewing.  His second tooth (both bottom) has popped through!  He is also starting to mumble a bit more using letter sounds…dadadadadlalalalahhahahahh.  He had his 6 month checkup about 2 weeks ago…he is 28″ and 18 lbs 4 oz.  Growing just fine.  Just for fun we put him up to the growth marks we made for George & Stuart is about 1.5 – 2″ shorter than G was at this age.  🙂  Stuart is SO STEADY sitting up.  He can play for a long time and when laying down he can rotate and move around pretty well.  It just happened.  Seems he will be the one who just decides to walk one day & does it.  So, with his sitting skills he now sits in the strollers for walks instead of being in his car seat carrier.  He looks like such a big boy and loves to see things happening around him.  He continues to think George is the funniest person in our family…Matt continues to try but George gets him every time.  George likes that.

George has been having a pretty good month.  He is an explorer!  He will climb on anything, run off into tall weeds, find bugs, dead fish, and make up stories about things & places as if it is his job.  When visiting the house he climbed up the back of the railing….Amanda (who is currently living there) said “my girls have never tried that”.  Yup.  It wont’ be long until he is on the deck to get to trees, etc, etc. etc.  He is chosen as one of the ‘artist of the week’ at school for some ribbon art he made.  I’ll try to get a picture to post.  It looks cute all framed….made me think how I should get some frames for my office & switch out some artwork.  He is saying crazy adult & reasoned things too.  Yesterday we went to the Town of Algoma (where we are moving) town Fireman’s Parade…he got some super sugar sour blue raspberry ‘juice’ and he wanted some.  I said that he could only have water or milk. His response was “Mama, my juice has water in it.”  Ah-uh.  The list goes on and on……he is great at using his words and still throws some fits when he is tired and doesn’t have his afternoon nap.  He will be taking swim lessons again but his daycare will take him.  He is excited & asks often when they will start…but it isn’t until the 15th.  They walk the kids (about 8 blocks) they swim their lessons then walk back.  He better nap those days!

In the meantime Matt & I are starting to settle into our jobs….and look forward to the fun this summer will bring.  We look forward to unpacking the house, setting G’s little pool up with water & watching the boys play, cutting the lawn (it will be fun the first time), and having  morning coffee and refreshing evening drinks on our deck.  We will also squeeze in a camping trip, a couple of family gatherings, and at least 1 timber rattler baseball game.

Stu in the basket.

Front Room

George's Room

Sunny Kitchen

Boys sharing snack

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 33.  I’m not sure what I thought I would have accomplished by this age, but I am happy with what life has for me now.  I was given lots of fb wishes, a nice lunch w/Matt, great cards, and generous gifts to put toward something for myself.  I’m pretty sure some new clothes are in my future – thanks!  But the celebration came at night….we ordered in pizza & watched a family movie (princess & the frog).  Yup, that’s it…the simple celebration.  It was pretty close to perfect.

This past week we had parent teacher conferences for the boys.  All is well.  Turns out George is well on his way to meeting all the ‘competencies’ for his age.  It is nice to have partners in his development…they see things we don’t and can help him along.  Stuart is also doing fine…he is not in a rush to do anything in particular.  This past week he rolled from his back to his tummy.  He is getting big..I don’t know if he is stock piling food for a growth spurt in the near future…but he is getting heavy!  He has also developed some tickle spots…so cute.

Wednesday evening we were invited with co-workers to our supervisor’s home for a bbq potluck.  It was so relaxing…the weather cooperated so we could be outside…in fact it was so warm we were seeking shade!  George ran around the yard (I can’t wait!) with a co-worker’s daughter Sam.  It took a bit but it wasn’t long before they were playing with balls ..’Washing’ them with mulch and then exploring a wooded area…complete with picking up HUGE branches & swinging them at each other and climbing rocks.  At one point Sam fell off the pile of rocks & without missing a beat or turning her head she yelled “I’m ok”.  Funny how kids know what to say so quickly so not to have to stop playing!

Today we are heading to Hilbert to spend lunch with and meet Madison who was born to my cousin Andrea about a month after Stuart.  Her pictures on fb are simply adorable.  It will be nice…today we also learned that our friends Christin & Tim are most likely going to meet their newest child today – exciting!

We are starting to sort through some things & pack up a bit.  It still looks like we will be moving in late June but we are starting the process.  We have tons of empty and a few packed boxes around the apartment…I’m starting to feel that we could be on the show Hoarders with all the ‘stuff’ we have around.  All part of the process I guess.

I may have mentioned that George is in a “papa & I will fix it…we are tough” mode…the other day on the way to school we saw a car accident.  He said that “Papa & I will fix their cars……we will saaaaaave the world”.  I just smiled….he has made 3 capes in the past week….he likes to run around in them & call himself Super George.  Love it.

Teeth & Conversations w/George

We spent last weekend with my family at the Wilderness Resort & Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells.  We had a condo & George really enjoyed the waterpark.  Over the weekend we celebrated my parents 39th Anniversary (holy cow!) and Mother’s Day.  It was special to have my mom & grandma Kratzke there too.  George was much more comfortable with the waterpark; he even went down a slide by himself (once).  Other than that he played ball with Brycen and in the water with Heidi.  On Sunday I got to spend the day with my boys and ate lunch at Quiznos (my fav sandwich shop) and dinner at BW3s….we also learned that Stuart’s first tooth had started to pop through!
Stuart is 6 months on the 19th and is starting to get the round gerber baby look.  He is growing big and just about on target with the 6 – 9 month clothes.  This morning he also rolled from his back to his tummy…now he can roll both ways though he doesn’t seem to choose to do that too much.  He does get a confused look on his face once he does…..then he smiles proudly.  He mostly enjoys sitting up & can do that really well.  His issue is when he leans too far forward & can’t recover and then rolls to the side.  We have started to experiment with foods.  So far he hasn’t exactly grasped the ‘eating’ idea but he is getting better.  It is a fun mess at veggie time now…we got most of the carrots down but the rest made a nice body art.

Stuart is so interactive…he loves to smile and can look in the direction of the person’s name you say….I think George is his favorite.  George continues to love his brother….he wants to hug, kiss, hold, and play with Stuart.  The only thing is that Stuart still doesn’t sleep for long periods of time….I know folks say we have the rest of our lives to sleep, but I could do with a couple of extra hours here & there.  😉

Last Friday we closed on our house & are still determining when we will be moving.  It is surreal but we are excited to know that we will for sure be in the house by July 1st.   We are starting to decide on what colors to paint the boys room.  When chatting about it George added “papa & me will paint Stu’s room because it is pink”.  In addition most things he talks about ends with “papa & me will do it because we are strong….because we are tough”.  He always wants to help.
|A couple of other things that made me giggle:

Matt was putting G to bed & G didn’t want to…so he was throwing a fit.  Matt said “George, I love you”  George replied “NO YOU DON’T!”

We got him to sit in his booster chair at the table & he clips himself in…then he can’t get out.  All of a sudden he said “Papa, get me out of my booster”.  I think it is funny that I wouldn’t buckle him in but because he does I don’t stop him…but then he can’t get out.

He told me the other day that Kari lives in Vermont but that she will move her house next to our house so she can visit.  He then told me that Dora (the explorer) would help ….and that Papa & George would push their house because they are strong.

We then started to do a little personality quiz of sorts…asking George various things:

What is your favorite color: Blue

What does Grandpa Tim like to do:  Feed Taylor Dog

What does Aunt Heidi like to do: Play with me

What does Papa do: Tickle me

What is your favorite book?  Bunny Book (from Great Grandma Kratzke)

What does mam do: Play with me

What does Brycen like to do: Go up stairs

What does Grandma Kleinhans like: To be the best

What does James do: Boomski me

What does Grandpa Kleinhans do: tickle me

What is your favorite weather:  Rain

What does Aunt Kari do: Visit me

What does Grandma Lindy do: Look at the turtles

What is your favorite cartoon/show:  George the Curious Monkey

Then George must have felt interrogated because he said “Can I get down now?”

Today is graduation day on campus so we have the typical students moving out & others celebrating with their families.  We are heading to Franklin Park to visit Tim & Linda.  I’m glad the weather is nicer…it will make for a nice drive & visit.

Good Days, Bad Days

Bears Boys

The past few weeks have been good…Matt is officially in his new position at Reeve and someone has been hired for my previous position so we are both concentrating more on our new professional adventures.  At home we are figuring out the adventures as they come.  George seems to have a great week, then a bad week at school.  I’m not sure if I posted but a couple of weeks back he was hitting a classmate & when the teacher got in the way she got slapped.  I was horrified!  I was thankful that it was a teacher he had already and knows that he is not a horribly rotten kid.  Most of that week we got notes home starting with “George had a bit of a rough day.  He was aggressive toward friends & hitting them.  He also shut the door several times on a child’s hand. ”  Then the next week the notes say “George had an awesome day.  He was excited to play with me (the teacher he hit).”

Matt & I find ourselves laughing at what George says.  We were chatting about something the other day & George said “Papa, we already talked about this.” Yeah.  He has also taken a liking to assisting with making dinner…he pulls his bathroom sink step stool in to be able to reach the counter.  Well, he had gone to the bathroom & I asked him if he washed his hands (knowing the stool was in the kitchen and he can’t reach the sink w/out it) and he said “Yeah”.  I called him on it & we walked back in to wash.  Speaking of going to the bathroom we have moved past needing to announce when he has to go and he just runs to the bathroom to take care of his business.  Now we will start on night training….maybe.

Big Eyes

Stuart is now 5 months and can easily grab his feet.  He can roll tummy to back & is very close to going back to tummy.  His personality is continuing to show as a pretty laid back kid.  He loves his big brother….George’s picture is the desktop picture and Stu just stares at it.  I think he wonders why we put George in that box.  🙂  Stu had a couple of bad nights were he didn’t want to sleep more than 1 hour at a time.  Those are rough nights that I know will pass…but it makes the days a bit more rough.  He is starting to like peek-a-boo (especially with George), the jump-a-roo, toys & pretty much anything he can put in his mouth.  When he laughs he has a pretty deep giggle…his language is mostly screeching not the typical bababa.  Beyond that he is in a routine of going through many outfits because of diaper blow-outs….I’m thankful for the patience of the daycare staff who clean it up each day!

Today is a rainy day & I’m starting to conceptualize packing the apartment.  We moved our closing date to May 7th to lock in a rate.  We still may not move until the end of June – depending on when the sellers move out as they will simply rent from us until they know.  Other than that our days fly by at work and the nights just as quickly with the boys.  We try to make time each night for a walk to explore nature and allows Matt & I a chance to chat.

Tummy Time!

Easter Fun!

Last weekend we celebrated Easter and had a great weekend.  George got to color some eggs last week and thought he may like to eat them…but he does not like hard boiled eggs…thus we just had fun coloring them.  Saturday we had an egg hunt with friends instead of going to the city hunt which was not very much fun last year.  So, we had a great time finding eggs on campus with friends & then had a potluck afterward.  Very nice.

Sunday we got up for early church and made it on time (mostly because I thought church started 15 minutes earlier than it really did).  Either way we got there early and George said “I think God is still getting dressed.”  We giggled and then listened to the live music complete with tuba as George pointed out.  After communion he said “Why is God drinking all of that” and it dawned on me that he thinks Pastor is God.  This also made me giggle inside.  After church we headed north to Tigerton to enjoy a brunch with my grandparents, parents, Heidi & James as well as other extended family.  It was a beautiful day and we were able to visit a bit with G & G Kratzke at the farm before heading back home.

Stuart & George are both doing well.  Stu enjoys to be sitting up…even though he can’t do it by himself he keeps trying to hoist himself up.  When he is up he can reach & play with his feet.  I keep waiting for him to realize that his feet are there when he is laying down as well.  :o)  As for George, he is a chatterbox indeed.  We have entered the ‘why’ phase and think some of the things he comes up with are crazy.  However, tonight he demonstrated that he can button & unbutton!  How exciting for our little man.  I have to remember to continue to challenge him because he is capable of much more than I realize.

Matt & I are transitioning into our positions.  Matt starts full-time next week and I’m still working in both areas but hope to be more in my new position than former position as the days pass.  All is as busy as normal and well.

George Colors Easter Eggs

Stuart's 1st Easter

Kids playing in the Phone Booth

Great Grandma Kratzke & Stuart (4 mo)

pictures with the boys

We had the boys’ dr appt. & pictures on Tuesday.  They are both growing healthy & are well.  The pictures turned out pretty good too!  Stu is starting to react & smile to the photographer and George thought the things she said were funny.  We were glad to get some good shots.  George is 3 in these pictures & Stuart is 4 months.  We are so blessed in so many ways.

Future Senior Portrait Pose

Big Boy @ 3

Brown Eyes

Don't be fooled, I'm ready to move!

Look at those lights!

Drooly Stu

What are you lookin' at?

Don't Move George