9 months old

My baby Miles is 9 months old. Where did all of that sweet baby time go? I am loving though that since he started crawling last week, he has become his own little man.

Braeden is loving that Miles is now crawling. Braeden will go into a room and call for Miles. Miles obliges. He is going to think he is a dog... he does carry his toys around in his mouth.

Miles weighed in at 18 lbs, 1 oz. 9 oz lighter than Braeden at the same age. They measured in at the same height at 29 inches.

He likes to hold his bottle although he has not figured out that if he turns it upside down that everything leaks out.

He has his two bottom front teeth. By the way he has been acting lately and the constant fist in his mouth, I'd say more are on the way.

He does not yet tolerate stage 3 food. The texture makes him throw up.

He loves his big brother. Braeden is the only one that can make him laugh, which is all the time. I love hearing baby giggles from the other room.

Miles sucks his thumb and poops in every diaper.

He loves his belly to be tickled and loves to give kisses.

He is learning to play patty cake.

Here is a photo of Miles at 9 months.

And a picture of Braeden at 9 months. I see resemblance but I don't think they look alike.

A July Haunting

We could not wait until October to experience a little spookieness so we went looking for some today. Our first stop Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry Iowa. The mounds are burial sites and are considered sacred and ceremonial sites of the American Indians. We just purchased an awesome Kelty pack so that we could tote Miles around and enjoy our summer. He was thrilled and enjoyed the hike as much as we did.

We did a two mile hike that took us up switch backs for about half a mile. Braeden just about ran the entire way. He is going to be a natural runner and will make us so proud. Sean and I on the other hand. We have not had any amount of consistent exercise in, um... years.

When we arrived at the first lookout point, we had a breathtaking view of the Mississippi River.

The photo below is of a set of round mounds.

A park sign showing the different mound shapes.

This is the large bear mound. The shape is not able to be seen from ground level, but was neat none the less.

After the bear mound we started to head back to the car. Braeden was beginning to hit the wall and needed to be carried so I put him on my back. I am carrying 15 extra pounds myself then add on another 35. I was wearing sandals, not the best decision that day. Braeden was physically tired and mentally exhausted... nap time. We were headed down the switchbacks and he was really squeezing my throat. I would say "throat" and he would burst out in a hysterical laugh. A few minutes later I would say it again, and he would have the same response. This went on and in no time at all I was cracking up at him and his laughter. Picture this, steep decline, sandals, kid on my back, both of us in hysterics and a bladder that has survived two children. We did make it down safely.

On our day out today we wanted to do something a little different too. We asked Braeden if he wanted to go to a ... cue Haunted music and visualize Braeden with big eyes and hands outstretched like claws.... Spooky Cave. He was so excited and kept asking when we were going to the spooky cave. This was like no cave I had ever been in, it was a boat ride.

In the reviews read online, people talked about how low the cave was in parts that you had to fold in half to keep from being decapitated. Yup. Their review was accurate.
The temperature in the cave is a constant 47 degrees. It was a nice break to get out of the 95 degree temps and humidity outside.
This was the first cave both for Sean and Braeden. And if I have anything to say about it, it won't be the last. We survived the tour with our heads intact and were not happy when it ended.. mainly because of the walk back to the car in the heat.

And... just because we live in Iowa, I had to throw in this photo. It is a usual sight on the road. After I took the picture and looked at it on the camera, I realized how young he looked. We passed him again, going the other direction about a half an hour later. I took a look at him, and he was about 9.

Fourth of July

We had no idea where to spend the 4th of July. It seemed like every town was having a celebration. I had seen a flyer describing the festivities in Independence. Doesn't that sound like a great place to spend the day? A few locals suggested that we head to the Mississippi River to the town of Gutenberg... so that is where we went. The park was busy with people, entertainment and food. We set up our chairs along the river so that we would be guaranteed a great spot for fireworks and grabbed some dogs for dinner. I had my first hand dipped corn dog. It was delicious. I also had the BEST FUNNEL CAKE EVER!
Braeden spent a little time in the bounce house.

The parade was about to start so we grabbed a spot on the curb. This is the first parade I had ever been to where cars were parked on the parade street. The parade had to be viewed in between cars or on the corner. As Braeden would say "That's just... ummm.. weird."
And I had never been to a parade where they throw out candy and Popsicles.

No Iowa parade is complete without a tractor...
or two...

or three...
or....


This was our view of the river as we waited for Fireworks.

Kind of hard to see in this picture but Sean caught a Firefly.

Miles was such a trooper. He was up 4 hours past bedtime and never fussed once. We grabbed the car seat from the car and he was out in five minutes. He could not hang on for the fireworks and he slept through them.... with my fingers in his ears.

As the sun set, the river's edge filled with blankets and chairs. Boats began filling the river below.. setting off their own fireworks. We bought Braeden one of those glow necklaces. He was waving it around in the dark and I snapped this photo. The lights in the background are the boats in the river.

We were about 100 meters from the launching of the fireworks. It was loud!! The show was great except for the glitch before the finale. Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July!!

Sightseeing

In our first week of residing in the Midwest, we visited the town of Galena, Illinois. Eighty five percent of Galena's buildings are in a National Register Historic District. Rich lead deposits were first mined by the Sac and Fox Indians. In the late 1600's, French established trading posts in the area. By the early 1800's the upper Mississippi Lead Mine District was established by the U.S. Congress, which paved the way for what would become the industry that would give birth to the City of Galena. Galena is definitely a tourist destination. All of the old buildings are filled with shops selling anything from candles, home decor and jewelry to the usual tourist trinkets of magnets, key chains and t-shirts. It was really neat though to walk through the streets and think back to how it was. Small plaques were affixed to the building fronts stating the year it was built and what business originally stood there. There were a few original cobblestone streets. We stopped at a small diner for some lunch. They were out of chicken strips, croissants for our sandwiches and coleslaw. We should have left but settled for some BLTs... with waaaay to much mayonnaise.
Did you know that President Grant lived in Galena? We had the opportunity to tour his home. This fully furnished home was given to him by a group of citizens upon his triumphant return from the Civil War in 1865.

The Strawberry House

My Dad does not like to visit us anymore because I always put him to work when he comes.... kidding... about not wanting to come.. not kidding about always putting him to work.

I mentioned before that my parents drove all the way from California to help us out.

We arrived into town on a Saturday afternoon and Sean had to go to work on Monday. There was no way that I would put a dent in anything by myself since the boys, well Miles, needs so much of my time. My parents arrived on Tuesday afternoon. My mom got out of the car and went right into work mode. I made her take a break, not that she wanted to sit down since they had been in the car for 3 days... I gave them the tour, they relaxed a bit and my mom and I went to work on the kitchen.

That was the biggest project and it ran into the next day.

This is a view of the back porch. It is great to sit out there and be able to watch Braeden play.
Here is a view of the backyard. We are on almost an acre. We were debating on whether or not to get a riding mower or continue to have Lois mow. (She mowed for the owners.) We dislike the idea of paying for mowing but the cost of the mower for the amount of time that we would use it (think loooong winter), it just works out better for her to continue for the time that we will be in Iowa. I do miss yard work though, so I put on my gloves and pulled weeds last night.
Another project that my mom and I tackled were Braeden and Miles' bedrooms. Before we left NY, I purchased Toy Story bedding for Braeden's new room. I'm not a fan of "character" items for the home, or clothing, but Braeden is in love with Toy Story that I wanted to do something special for him for the new house. His walls were white and we painted them Corn Husk Green. They came out great. I loved the color so much that I painted the sitting room that color (photo of that later).
My mom found a website with very reasonable pricing for the wall decals. Buzz and Woody are about 4 feet tall and Buzz glows in the dark. Braeden's dresser, I painted when he was a baby. My plan is to paint it electric blue and add some decals. I have not decided yet what to do for window coverings. They will have to be some sort of valance since his bed it so close to both windows.
The look on Braeden's face when he walked in and saw Buzz and Woody... it was priceless.
Mile's room. His room was brown and we painted it a light grey. The floors are the original wood floors when the house was built in 1909. My mom and I sat with flat screwdrivers and nails and scraped all of the years of dirt and caked in gunk out of the cracks. (We joked that we should be in a mental institution.) It took a couple of washings with Murphy's Oil Soap and the floor looked great.

I bought a wall quote that says "Every child is a story yet to be told". I need to find something decoration wise. The color is a lot lighter than I thought it was going to be. It looks so plain. Not sure what I want to do in here yet.... and I'm not liking the layout of the room... ugh.


The Town

Strawberry Point is home to the World's Largest Strawberry. This is a photo of downtown taken from one corner. We have one intersection with a stop sign.

A view from the north side of downtown.
This next one is the Franklin Hotel, built in 1902. http://www.franklin-hotel.net/about.php It is said to have a ghost.
We are enjoying our time here in Iowa so far. Strawberry Point is definitely a small town. Everybody waves and says hello. It is hard for me because I usually don't make eye contact with people as I am walking down the street. Everyone here does.


I have been trying to get out of the house. I have taken the boys in the stroller to go downtown to the post office, the little grocery store and the pharmacy. The pharmacy has an old fashioned soda fountain... one day we will have to go in and have a Vanilla Coke or a Root Beer Float.


We have made a few trips to the park.
Toilet? No toilet. Whatcha gonna do.
Strawberry Point has a small grocery store that has necessities. Not a place though to do a full grocery trip. The gas station is also a Subway, a coffee shop and a Gun and Ammo shop. I saw the other day that they have a sign for fresh corn.. so you can get that there too.



My first trip to the gas station.. I pulled up to the pump and saw that there was not a swiper for the debit card. I had to think back to when I was about 5 and remember if I could pump first, then go in and pay?... do I have the take the kids in with me?? Everyone in that gas station knew everyone by name. When someone walked in the door it was "Hello so and so". I felt so out of place.



The grocery store, Fareway, is in Manchester, a 20 mile drive. It is definately not a Wegmans..the entire store is the size of Wegmans produce department. It is very old fashioned. The employees wear white shirts with black bow ties, the meat is cut right where you can see it (they don't sell packaged meat) and there is an employee in every isle to help you. The cashier removes everything from your cart and they even take it to your car and unload it for you. Do I tip? I still don't know, I feel stupid asking. Manchester also has Walmart, a very small one and an awesome pool. I plan on making the pool trip weekly.



Independence, 38 miles away has a small Super Walmart.



Waterloo is 58 miles away. CIVILIZATION! Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Hobby Lobby.. you name it. I headed there yesterday just for a haircut and a trip to the BIG Super Walmart. It ends up being about a 5 hour trip and makes for a long day.



Now that we are pretty settled in, the things planned for the rest of the summer are... some more painting, the fair, visiting other towns for summer festivals, hiking and biking. Just outside of Strawberry Point is Backbone State Park.



Family update: Miles began crawling today. Time to put up some baby gates!

On the Road Again

I love my Braeden. He was so excited for this move to Iowa and "going to a new house". I know that the stress wore on all of us and we are trying to get things back to normal as soon as possible for Braeden. The night before the move we heard Braeden over the baby monitor.. in Miles' room. We heard some whispering and some rustling. We heard Braeden telling Miles that "tomorrow we are moving to a new house in Iowa state". Then we heard crying. Braeden had gone in, turned on the light and wanted to share his excitement with his sleeping little brother. We loaded the van with everything that we needed for a week.. not sure when our stuff would be arriving in Iowa. Yes I needed my tree and my plant.... but due to space, my tree ended up in a new home with our neighbor.

These two guys were awesome. The two of them arrived at 8am and they packed and moved everything themselves. I told them that there was no way that everything was going to fit on the truck. All day, they kept telling me it would fit.



Do you see? They barely got the door shut. But wait... what is that sitting on the driveway? Our queen size box spring? They smiled at me and shrugged their shoulders. They then wrapped it in shrink wrap, then a tarp, then shrink wrap again and they tied it right on the back of the moving van and assured me that it would be fine.

Finally at 9pm, the moving van pulled out of the driveway and we were happy to put our weary selves in our own van. Our plan was to get in about 3 hours of driving and make it to Cleveland, Ohio. We did not make it down our street before both kids were in meltdown mode. 7 miles later we checked ourselves in to the Staybridge Suites. We figured it would be better for our sanity if we all got a good nights sleep. The next morning, we took our time, had breakfast, and headed out. My mom, who thought we were somewhere in Ohio, called my cell about 10am and asked where we were. I replied "Buffalo, driving through Dunkin Donuts". "Buffalo ????"


We had a great drive that day. Both kids were great in the car, Braeden watched a couple of movies on the DVD player. Have minivan, will travel. It is great to be able to slip into the back to take care of the boys all the while maintaining our cruising speed.

While cruising down the freeway wishing that we had not already turned our EZpass, we came upon a moving van with a mattress flying in the wind.... just kidding. But, it was our moving van and it was good to know that our box spring had not ended up in the middle of highway 80/90. That evening we hit some major storms somewhere in northern Indiana.. my first thought? I sure hope we don't have a water bed when we get to Iowa.

The rain was coming down so hard that all traffic was at a crawl and the only thing we could see were the emergency flashers on vehicles ahead of us. The wind was blowing debris across the road and I was sure that any minute I could change my name to Dorothy. I could click my flip flops together and say "Sean, we are not in Indiana anymore". The sky lit up above us and the van shook with every thunder. We made it out of the storm and rested for the night in Merrilville, just south of Gary, Indiana.

We had to get an early start the next morning so that we could get to Strawberry Point by 1. We had about a 5-6 hour drive. A drive through for breakfast and coffee and we hit the road again, first and only big city on the route, Chicago.

Driving through the Chicago area made me sweat. It could be our next place of residence. It is huge and the freeways with the trains in the middle are intimidating. I know that we would not live in the city but it is still nerve wracking. We originally had a breakfast date with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Suzie who live just west of the City, but our early departure soured those plans. Raincheck.

Once we hit the rolling hills of western Illinois it was like we were in a whole new world. Lush green countryside, fields of corn. Old towns with large brick buildings and American flags. We were excited when we came upon the Mighty Mississippi... over the river we went and entered Dubuqe Iowa. No turning back now!!

I could not believe that I was loving the views of our new state. It was not what I expected. Heading west from Dubuque took us into bluffs where the rock faces went straight up and the ridges were covered in trees. Then that took us to rolling hills where every space of open land was planted with corn and on every hilltop stood a house shadowed by a red barn.


At the base of those rolling hills we entered into Strawberry Point.

(I missed the sign as we drove by)

Home Sweet Home.