Roadtrip

While mom was here we also went on a mini road trip down to Madison County to see the covered bridges and the birthplace of John Wayne. We found several of the bridges and made it into Winterset to see the house of John Wayne. We even found this tower which was tucked away in a grove of trees. When we drove up to it Natali shouted with an audible gasp..."oh my goodness...it's a princess castle." She could have stayed there for hours. It was great driving down these old dirt roads and through farm fields to find the bridges. My mom loved. Quite the different scene and pace of life from busy San Diego. It was only about a 40 minute drive from our house so it was perfect with the kids. They did great.

Grandma Gerry in Iowa

My mom was able to come out the week before Ben took boards. We had SO much fun. No matter what we do I always have a blast with my mom. Whether it is organizing kids clothes, finishing sewing projects, eating McDonald's breakfast, or going on mini road trips. I loved having my mom and the kids LOVED having Grandma. We crammed as much as we possibly could in the 5 days she was here. We discovered a place called The Machine Shed and I am pretty sure it will be come a staple in places we go when family is visiting. It is always sad to say goodbye and it never helps when your 3 yr. old starts crying in the backseat saying, "no...don't take Grandma to the planes...Grandma...come back to my house and play with me!" Oh how the tears flowed!

Life

Life in the Fluhman household is moving forward as always. Ben is putting in long days preparing to take his first set of boards for podiatry school. Let's just say that all parties involved will be happy when it is over. I do have to say that I am glad that it is him and not me!!! Isaac is still our happy little bubba. He pulls himself up on EVERYTHING and is walking along the furniture to get to anything that we might have left behind or dropped out of our pockets. He LOVES our cell phones (it seems like most babies do...why is that?)! We recently took his pacifier away for sleeping at naps and bedtime. I was getting up many times a night to find it for him and I finally had enough. So there have been a few more tears but is getting the hang of and I am getting a little more sleep. Natali is progressing with the whole pottery training thing. I am glad that I stuck it out. I called Ben one day crying and feeling like screaming a stream of profanity (I didn't...I just really really felt like it). I had had enough of it, but I stuck with it though and I think she has it down. We had two whole days with out any accidents. I still put a pull up on when we leave for running errands and such, just because I don't know that I could handle accidents in public places. Life is good. We feel very blessed to not have been immediately affected by the floods. Here is Isaac being himself, and Natali playing dress up with one of her cute little friends.

Double Take

Okay, so in a rash moment I decided we needed to cut Isaac's hair. It was long...over the ears, bangs, mullet, the whole shebang! So how do you cut a 10 month olds hair when he is moving all over the place like a spaz! The answer, buzz it! So our thick brown haired little boy is now practically BALD! Not really, but his hair is so light down by the roots he looks like a little blond baby! WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! Seriously I started crying (just a little) because my baby looks so different. Even later when I went into his room after he was asleepto put something away I had to do a double take. Is that my baby in that crib? See for your self. (It's hair...it will grow back. RIGHT!?!?!?) These pictures are only a couple days apart. I, as his mother, still think he is just as cute as can be. But I do miss his hair already.

Summer Fun

Today was a crazy day. I am trying to toilet train Natali....3 "wetties" accidents and 1 "poopy" accident has just about sent me over the edge! So I am trying to get the kids ready for bed and trying to keep myself from bursting into tears when I look at Isaac all fresh and clean with this cute little smile on his face. It was just melted me. I love my little guy. Seeing his sweet little face and smile helped put things into persepctive. Thanks Isaac!!!

I got a little wadding pool thinking the kids would love to sit in it and splash. Especially since Isaac loves his bath and goes crazy splashing the water all over. Natali loved it but Isaac not so much! Granted it was his first non bath water experience, hopefully he will warm up to it.

Number 3

At 6:42 am three years ago at beautiful little girl was born, 9.9lbs and with a full head of thick red hair! Our little girl is now no longer so little. Today we took much joy in celebrating Natali's third birthday. It is amazing how much she has grown and the joy that she has added to our life. Natali said she wanted a Bee birthday (based off of the Bee movie, which she loves). I put up a few decorations and we spent the day as a family having fun. I think her favorite parts were opening her gifts, her Bee balloon, and her Bee cupcakes. Happy Birthday Natali....hugs and kisses we love you!

Vintage

My mom sent me her old smock from when she was in Kindergarten. It is so sweet with little pockets in the front, a button in the back at the neck, and her name embroidered in the front. I wasn't going to let Natali use it but my mom insisted. Apparently that was the whole reason why she sent it :)! Anyway, here is Natali creating some finger painting works of art. All while wearing something authentically vintage! Thanks Mom!

6 ear infections...and what do you get?

TUBES! Yes Isaac finally will get tubes for his ears. For some reason the fluid builds up in his ears, never drains, gets infected, antibiotics kill the infection, but the fluid never goes away. Thus, we continue to multiple infections, both ears, ALL THE TIME! So needless to say I am kind of excited for his littler surgery on Tuesday. Maybe he will actually be able to sleep at night (please keep all fingers crossed)! And maybe he won't be in constant pain, although he is a pretty happy baby. Here's to hoping the surgery goes 100% perfect and that this works. The really fun part will be the night before his surgery. He can't eat after midnight, and as of right of the last two days he has woken up twice a night to eat! It will be one LONG night!

Getting ready for a walk!

Natali dressed in boy clothes (she had barfed earlier that day at a friends house...sorry about that again) and as usually dressed in one of her princess outfits. The hat totally goes don't you think? Hopefully she will gain a little more fashion sense as she gets older :) But for now I think the smile says it all! Life is good!

Crawler

For some time now Isaac has been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking, but today was different. Our little guy crawled! He had a few different techniques but in the end he did the whole up on your hands and knees moving forward crawling! We cheered and clapped and Natali was so proud of her baby brother :). It was cute. We need to get out the camcorder and get the kid in action. He also had his 9 month wellness check. He is 20lbs 12oz (50%), 28.5 inches (50%), and 18.5 head cir. (90%). Our little chunky monkey is not so chunky anymore! But not to worry he still has his cheeks. He had another double earinfection (I spent part of mothers day in the walk in clinic). I think this is number 6 or 7. We are holding off on tubes right now (doctors request) but we might have too if they continue even in the summer. Boo for ear infections, but yeah for a growing baby boy!

9 Months

Here is Isaac's 9 month photo. What a cute boy...if I do say so myself. I will post his "stats" when we have is 9 month check-up. He is cutting his two bottom teeth, sitting up, rocking on his hands and knees (occassionaly), and is still the sweetest baby boy in the world!

Park, Friends, & B-day

The weather has finally been somewhat decent around here lately. We have made it to the park several times in the last week. We have blown many bubbles and used much sidewalk chalk. Here is shot of sweet Isaac just loving being outside in his stroller. Look at that face...life is good!

We had some friends from Iowa City come into town and we were able to visit with them a little. They have a little boy that is 10days younger than Natali. Natali loved playing with him, more like bossing him around! He was a good sport. How cute is this photo...look at those faces!
This past week was also my birthday week. Yes that's right. In our house it's not a birthDAY but a birthWEEK. It was awesome. Anyway...I felt totally spoiled. Ben and I were able to get out to lunch by ourselves thanks to some great babysitters (thanks!) I had McDonald's breakfast (my fav. ) and spent the day as a family and with friends. I did get some beautiful flowers. I LOVE LOVE LOVE flowers. (I hate buying them because I know they won't last), but when I have them they just make life seem wonderful. I even tired to have a green thumb, we bought some planters and flowers and hung them on our porch. There is something so fulfilling about getting your hands in the soil and planting! LOVE IT!!!

Weekend Trip

This weekend we were lucky to go up to Minnesota with some friends. When we planned this trip I only had one thought..."I have to get to Mall of America". Ben had been there before but I had yet to have the "experience"! When we started approaching the mall I felt like I was going to explode with excitement!!! I was grinning from ear to ear...and yes...it was AMAZING! We actually only went into one store (it is kind of tricky with three strollers). But I could have spent literally days there. One highlight was the amusement park in the middle. It was a Nickelodeon theme, and they had these Backyardigan figures. The truth is I think I was more excited about it than Natali. I just about started running when I saw them from a distance. I took Natali on a carosel ride and Isaac was such a champ just hanging out in his stroller the whole day. It was nice to get away, even if it was just for the weekend. Here are a few pictures.

Rite of Passage

This weekend we attended the Rite of Passage ceremony at Ben's school. It happens towards the end of your 2nd year and marks the end of your lecture oriented studies and the beginning of your clinic oriented studies. It feels SO good to have two years under our belts. In May Ben will start in the clinic and get some hands on experience (he can't wait but at the same time is very nervous). It was fun to get out of the house with out the kids, thanks Wilsons! Here are a few pictures, courtesy of other peoples cameras.

Us and friends!

The Guys
Left to Right: Bryce, Phil, Jason, Colby, Ben

Class of 2010 DPM's

Isaac Kisses

Isaac is 8 months old! Oh my gosh, how did that happen???? I love this age though, they start doing so much and are so interactive. It is so amazing to watch him and Natalie interact together. It is a highlight of motherhood. And can I just say that I LOVED Elder Ballard's talk from General Conference. I so needed to hear that! It was amazing and spoke right to me.

Last week we got Isaac and Savannah Wilson close enough on the floor to really interact. Here is the result! GO ISAAC...watch out Savannah!

Who Wears the Pants

So why is Natali eating a frosty at 7:45 pm? Um, because she wanted to and threw a massive tantrum until we completely crumbled and folded under her screams and tears. What really happened was she got a sliver in her finger and was complaining that it hurt. So like good parents we tried to look at it and get it out with a needle and tweezers. Well you can only imagine how that went over with Natali...not so much. So with me trying to hold her in a death grip and Ben trying to get it out we ended up bribing her that she could have a Frosty TOMORROW if she stopped crying and held still. We finally gave up on the sliver, but all Natali wanted was the Frosty. And apparently she chose not to hear the TOMORROW part.

Anyway to make a long story even longer...Natali ended up getting a Frosty and staying up way past her bedtime watching a movie and eating a frosty. Why you ask? Aren't I the parent? Shouldn't no mean no? Shouldn't I be able to control my two year old? Come on...let's not kid ourselves...all hail Miss Natali!!!


***We at least did not let her eat it all, I get some points for that...right! I know giving in was a bad choice, but I really didn't want to battle her anymore. Some days I just have to wave the white flag.