The Park

The boys and I went to Santa Clarita, where my sister lives, today. We met her in the morning at a park. We wanted to spend as much time as possible outside because the weather is beautiful! The temp has been in the mid 70s the past couple days. Yesterday Matt, Micah and I played at home in the back yard. Matt is into digging and burying items! The only negative of spending the day at my sister's house is Matt usually won't nap there. He is so excited to be there he won't go to sleep. I tried to get him to nap for over and hour before giving up! I ended up loading him in the jogger and going for a short run. He always falls asleep when we run. Micah is still having napping issues as well! I thought 4 month old little boys napped at least twice a day. Apparently Micah has not read the same baby sleep books that I have!

The Past Two Weeks

Sorry to everyone who has been checking this blog in hopes of seeing recent pictures of our adorable kiddos! I have been delinquent in posting but am fixing that now!
Jeanette (Grandma Bennett) spent the weekend with us. It was great to have her here. Micah and I went to a baby shower on Saturday afternoon (he still is protesting the bottle) and Karl, Jeanette, and Matt went to Valencia. There is a big bike race that takes place all over CA and they passed though Valencia on Saturday. Matt got a free hat and tricycle! He can't quite figure out how to pedal but likes to pretend when pushed around! The weather was pretty bad all weekend but we managed to get to the park during a break from the rain and wind.
Last week Matt and Micah has colds. It seems one of them is always coming down with something! Fortunately is is never very bad and they get over it in a day or so.
Matt has been sleeping in his "big boy bed" for almost a month now! He gets a sticker in the morning and after nap if he stays in his bed. Karl and I have been getting a little visitor in the middle of the night wanting to sleep in "mommy/daddy's bed."
Micah's personality is staring to come out more and more! He is such a sweet little boy and loves to be held and cuddled! He is very much a mommy's boy!

Have a good week!

L.A. Zoo

Matt and Micah had their first trip to the zoo on Friday. We went with 4 other moms and their kids. The ratio was 8:4! We were a bit out numbered! I think if we had gone with high expectations about how the day would go we would have been disappointed but we didn't so the day was good! After 10 bathroom breaks (3 of the kids were 3 years old), 5 snack/lunch breaks, 10 nursing breaks (2 of the kids were under 5 months), 20 melt down/tantrums, and 1 much needed ice cream break we saw some animals! On the way home I asked Matt what we had seen at the zoo and he said in this order, "monkeys, elephants, ice cream, and giraffes." Overall it was fun. I want to go back with Karl because it would be nice to have a better adult to kid ratio! The pictures are of Matt touching a snake and me carrying both boys despite having a double stroller! That was following one Matt's melt downs! Matt has been asking over and over to watch his Elmo movie about wild animals! I think he had a good time.
This weekend Karl did a running presentation with his boss and running buddy for the community. It went well and they had about 20 people attend. They spoke on shoe prescription, strengthening and stretching.
The rest of the weekend we will probably spend around home. We have talked about going to the snow, but we will see. Hopefully you are all having a nice weekend.

3 Month Well Check

Micah had his 3 month well check earlier this week. He never really had a 2 month check because we were switching doctors and insurance. Micah weighed in at 14lb 14oz and 24in long. He is a solid kid! He is in the 75-90% for weight and 75% for length and head circumference. My sister calls breast milk "grow milk" and I guess she is right! The doctor was a little concerned that the soft spot on his head was small. She said we should just monitor it at his well checks. I wish she hadn't mentioned it at all!
Poor Karl came home from work on Friday with a 102 degree fever. He has been taking it pretty easy today. Unfortunately he won't be able to run tomorrow. He was sighed up to run an 18 miler at Hanson Dam. His fever is down a bit so hopefully he just has a 24 hour bug and will feel better soon. The boys need their Daddy back and Mommy needs a break!!!

Yellow Submarine

Saturday Pictures

Dancing

Matt's friends, Nicholas and Anthony came over today for a couple hours while their mom worked. I put a blanket on the floor and turned Raffi on and the boys had a blast. Matt wasn't too into dancing but he sang great! He loves to sing Yellow Submarine and sounds pretty good! The "big boy bed" is working out really good. Matt has slept the past two nights in it. Naps are a different story! Yesterday he fell asleep under the recliner chair in his room and today he did the same and we moved him into bed. Karl made him a "big boy bed book." When he sleeps in the the toddler bed he gets to put a sticker in his book. Each page in the book has pictures of Matt's friends...Elmo, Thomas the Train, Curious George, and the Sesame Street gang. Karl and I are trying to figure out the best way to move the crib into Micah's room with least amount of trauma! We don't want Matt to get jealous or feel like Micah is taking his crib away. I am a little depressed with the whole situation...my little boy is growing up.
I went to my brother's district honor band concert tonight. They sounded really good. It was fun to see him play. Besides seeing him at the state honor band concert 2 years ago I have not heard him play in concert band. Clark made the So. California honor band and the state band this year. He will be in Long Beach the rest of the week preparing for the concert on Sunday. He made the orchestra in the So. CA band which is a pretty big honor.
Tomorrow we are heading to Santa Clarita to a place called Under the Sea. This is an indoor play area. The weather has been really rainy so it will be good to let Matt get some wiggles out! Micah is such a trooper. He is constantly being shuffled around after his big brother. When I took this picture (below) Micah was sitting in the bouncer staring at the boys. I wonder what he is thinking with these loud crazy kids dancing around!

Micah's Baptism

Micah was baptized on Sunday, January 13. He wore the 150+ year old gown that my grandpa Crane, Louise, Matthew, and Luke wore. It was a special time. All of our family was able to attend except Jack who was soaking up the sun in Hawaii. We had family and friends come from MN, Las Vegas and Thousand Oaks. Following the church service where Tom assisted in the baptism we had lunch at our home. Overall I think the day went well. The only glitch was Micah's minor explosion/ diaper leak on the gown...oops! Jon, Louise and Erin are Godparents. Karl and I feel confident they will more then fulfill their promise to us and Micah. Jon and Louise have to pull double duty as they are Matt's Godparents as well.
The mom's group I belong to planned a trip to Pasadena on Tuesday to the Kidspace Museum. Matt has a great time. They had a toddler play area and story time, outside water play area and a hands on indoor exhibit. I think Matt will enjoy it even more next year. I may get a year pass next year when both boys can participate. Matt was so tired and excited after the morning. We had planned to stop by Griffith Park and let the kids see the trains but decided to postpone that for another day. The kids were asleep before we got out of the parking lot! Micah, Matt and I drove with a friend. Pasadena is a little over 1 hour away.
I hope you are all having a nice week...we are off to Vegas this weekend.

Our Sunday Afternoon

It is Sunday afternoon and both boys are sleeping (this almost never happens) and Karl is organizing the garage (this REALLY almost never happens! :) I should be catching up on the heaps of laundry we have or cleaning the kitchen but I would rather write a quick entry on our blog!
Karl woke early this am and ran 13.1 miles. He started a running blog and will post about his training runs until the Boston Marathon. 13.1 miles is half way there. The miles aren't really the issue though. He is going to try for a good time. Check his blog out for more info. The link is on the right side of the screen. I ran a whole 2 !/2 miles this am!
We went to church at 11:00. My parents went early because Clark has an audition for the state honor band in Pasadena this afternoon. I'm sending you good luck thoughts Clark! Matt lasted all of 15 minutes in church until he started yelling "all done" and "go play!" We are really hoping he lasts through Micah's baptism next week.
We had some friends over last night. They have a little girl who is almost 15 months old. The kids "played" and we had dinner. After the kids went to bed we watched a movie...I fell asleep! It was a good time though!
The pictures posted are from this afternoon. Karl had a little photo shoot with Micah while Matt was sleeping and I was at the store. One picture is for Grandpa Stutelberg and one for Grandpa Crane!
Matt just woke up...so much for the laundry and cleaning! Maybe we will go out and "help" Daddy in the garage!
We are excited to see everyone next week! Safe travels to everyone and we will see you soon!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year from Pasadena, CA. Andi and Karl got up at 4 am to drive down to Pasadena for the Rose Parade. Andi's brother Clark marched in the PCC Tournament of Roses Honor Band for the second year in a row. The weather was great and Clark's Band played "It's a Small World" as they passed us. Special thank you to Louise and Jonathan who baby sat Matt and Micah while we were gone. They had the parade on TV and every band that passed by Matt would say "CC's Band" "Hi CC" "Bye CC". (CC=Clark Crane). After Matt's nap we went over to the Crane's for the second half of the Rose Bowl. As you can see by the picture, Don was pretty pleased with the outcome. Hope everyone else had a happy new year's day.