Howell's Pumpkin Patch

It's been a tradition since moving here to Iowa that every October we go out to Howell's Pumpkin Patch. The past few years Ben has been busy with test and school, and hasn't been able to go with us. But since this year would be our last October here as a family (since next year he will be gone for clerkship's) I made sure that this year he went with us. He had to experience this place that I love. I love all the old tractors all over, the animals, and the great stuff for the kids to do!

Love all the fall colors!

Isaac living it up in his stroller!

Natali LOVED this horse swing

Fun Day!

Picture Tag

My friend, Briawna, picture tagged me. Here's how it works: you pick the 4th picture in your 4th folder, and then give a brief description.

This particular photo is of Natali on her 1st birthday back in Utah. We celebrated with some family and her actual birthday and then had a party later on during the weekend. I love the look on her face, and have seen it much since then. Not the best hair day for her, looks like she is kinda balding! This seems like so long ago, but not really all at the same time. I tag: Emily Dalton, Holly Rob., Julianne S. & Starlee (come on Star...we need a new post!)

We're Growing!

We are excited to announce that baby #3 is on it's way! I am 10 weeks along and fully enjoying the fatigue and nausea (especially with two other kids to take care of)! Hopefully just a few more weeks of that and I will be done with this first phase. We are overjoyed with our growing family and wanted to share our excitement and news!

A Walking Bubba

Here is some footage of Isaac walking while Natali tries to take him down! Oh I love these kiddos!

Themed Jammies

I bought these jammies last Jan. from Kohl's during there mega sale and I have been anxiously waiting to dress my kiddos in them. The day has finally come! Yeah for coordinating Halloween themed jammies. Thank heavens my kids are not old enough to rebel against matching!

Apple Orchard

Last week for playgroup a bunch of us girls loaded up the kids and headed out to an apple orchard. Let me just say it was a blast! Natali and Isaac both LOVED playing in the large pool of corn. Let's just say that I found a lot of corn at home later that evening while getting kids changed into jammies! They had lots of farm animals and the cutest little houses from the Three Little Pigs. A new addition was this jumping pillow that the kids could jump on. It was perfect for the bigger kids (which now includes Natali). It was a beautiful Iowa day...blue sky, white clouds, sunny, and a slight crispness in the air. We will be back next year for sure!

I'm in LOVE

I am in LOVE with Fall! I love the colors, the smells, warm sweaters, comfy hoody sweatshirts, hot chocolate, soups, pumpkins, Howell's Pumpkin patch, apple orchards, crisp morning air, warm bread, sleeping under extra blankets, the warm smell of cinnamon and pumpkin baking, watching movies, and especially college football. I love opening up all the windows in the house and letting the fresh cool air in. I feel like it cleans and purifies all the trapped up air inside my home. I LOVE fall decorations! I love wearing slippers inside, and still being able to pull of flip flops outside. I love fall Holidays. It just makes me feel happy and giddy! I love driving and talking to the kids about the changing colors, and going on nature walks to see what leaves we can find. It is so beautiful and charming. It's my one last hurrah before winter shows it's ugly face! Thank you fall...I love you!

Because

Today was one of the those days, it was just good...no it was GREAT!  I don't know why.  I still had kids cry, I still had random tantrums, it wasn't even a preschool day.  It was just a good day.  I felt on top of things and I just enjoyed my kids.

I swear I didn't mean to match them...I just realized it while postingthis pcicture.

I still am so amazed that they are siblings but look SO different!

 Sweet kisses

Made me Laugh

(photo is random and has nothing to do with this post)

Today Natali was on a big "shapes" kick.  While using the restroom in church she pointed out all the circles, squares, and rectangles.  So tonight we are wrapping up our family time and getting kids ready for bed.  Natali is sitting on my lap and I am telling her:

Me: You know I love you forever and always right?

Natali:  Yes mommy I know.

Me:  (giving her a big hug) I love my girl!

Natali:  (holding my face in her hands) Mom, your face is an oval.

***thank heavens she said oval and not fat, chubby, etc...kids can be BRUTAL***

Me: What shape is Daddy's face?

Natali:  A  circle.

I know that doesn't sound that funny written down.  But I LOST it.  I couldn't breathe!  It was one of those laughs were you  just CAN'T laugh becuase you are laughing so hard.  I have laughed like that continually throughout the night as I have merely thought about that moment.  Why was it so funny?  Honestly I don't know.  But I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and it felt really good!  

Preschool Girl

Natali had her first day of Preschool on Tuesday.  We have been counting down to this all summer.  It was our many motivation for potty training.  We drive past her school everyday and everyday she says, "Mommy, is that my school?  I will go to school someday like daddy."  So Tuesday was the big day!  Ben wished her luck, gave kisses, and looked at me and said, "You are going to be a basket case!"  Well...not exactly.  Natali proceeded to dump her bowl of milk and rice kripies on her head. Which meant a quick morning bath (which is NEVER quick), followed by a battle over what clothes to wear (which mentally I had picked out months in advance), and capped of with her refusing to hold still for a "first day of preschool" picture.  NO KODAK MOMENT HERE!  By the time it came to dropping her off I was grining ear to ear and waving goodbye with out a tear shed!  Sorry Ben, no uncontrolable sobbing.  I went home, put Isaac down for a nap...and enjoyed 1 and 1/2 hours of pure QUIET!  I felt very productive in that short time.  When I picked her up she was beaming.  She loved every moment, and I was a proud mom and ready to have my little preschooler back.  What a big kid!  I love my Nattles!

St. Louis

For Labor Day weekend we decided to get out of town for a couple days. It was exactly what I needed. A break from doing the basic's (laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc). We drove down Thursday and stayed with some friends, the Wilsons. It's a 5 hour drive from Des Moines and the kids did excellent. We waited till about 1/2 down until we showed Natali that we could watch movies in our CAR! She LOVED it, and lets be honest...so did Mom and Dad. We could actually talk to eachother without someone yelling at us. Isaac was just his precious little self, and as long as he had is binky he was a happy camper. We drove downtown and walked around the arch. It was AWESOME. Our family picture above is taken at the base of one of the sides of the arch. I thought about taking the ride up to the top, but decided that "tossing my cookies" in a small crowded little capsule was not and ideal experience. We saw Bush stadium from the freeway, a really highlight for Ben. We even went to the famous Ted Drew's for frozen custard. Ben thought it was every bit as good as Neilsons in Bountiful (another famous custard spot). We mainly just relaxed and ate a lot of Lion's Choice (a roastbeef sandwich place that makes Arby's look like dog food). It was a great weekend adventure.

This the focal point of this pictures is suppose to be Bush Stadium in the background

The American Gothic House...imagine two old farmers with pitch forks in the front!
If you look in the right corner you might see some spilled yogurt. Ben was helping Natali get the last little bit out of her go-gurt. He apparently squeezed too hard and it spilled all over the ground. (side note...they were sitting away from me at the time so I didn't hear this) But Natali looks at Ben and and then at me and says, "Moommmmmyyy....Ben spilled my YOGURT!" and then turns to Ben and says, "That is very naughyt Ben!"

We loved every moment! Thanks!

Natali

So I took Natali in for her 3 year old pictures. It was fun. We made a little mommy daughter date out of it. We had her pictures taken, then while we were waiting for the prints we went across the street to Costco. We walked around, enjoyed some samples and topped it all off by sharing a churro! Seriously...Costco is one of my favorite places. Both kids fit in the front of the cart, we get samples, Costco chicken, great kids clothes, fabulous prices on kid books, the people there practically know me by name, and to round it all off...hot dog, drink and churro...yes please (lunch for all of us)! Anyway. It was a fun outing with Natali. She is getting ready to start preschool in Sept. and I am not sure who is more excited (her or me). We'll call it a tie. Then I also have her enrolled in a dancing class at the YMCA. A friend of ours teaches it, and Natali is over the top excited for that. We have been watching the Olympics a lot out our house and Natali loves to watch the "dancing girls'. She says she wants to do gymnastics now. Yesterday she took some of my hair ties and put them around her ankles and walked around the house saying she was doing 'nastics". She is getting so big. We love the spunk she adds to our family...intense at times (most of the time)...but we love our little redhead.

Growing Boy

Isaac had his one year wellness check yester day and here are his current stats!
Height: 30 1/2 (70%)
Weight: 22lbs 15oz (50%)
Head: 18 1/2 (70%)
His a growing boy! This is his one year picture that we had taken last week. He had a REALLY hard time sitting still. As soon as I sat him he started to crawl away. It made for a very difficult photo op. but we made it work. He is getting closer and closer everyday to walking. And last night he actually slept till about 6:30 am with out waking up once! This is truly a miracle in the Fluhman family because Isaac has NEVER done this before. When I woke up at around 5ish I was so confused and wondered was it am or pm, and why hadn't Isaac woken my up multiple times yet. Then of course I thought, "is he okay!". Once I could hear his breathing over the monitor I quickly rolled over and went back to sleep. Let me just say, getting a solid chunck of sleep is AMAZING (totally not over rated)! Thanks Isaac. Lets do it again tonight!

Happy Birthday Isaac

I can't believe that it's been a year since our little Isaac joined our family. Oh he was such a little chunk...and so much dark hair. We've loved every minute watching him grow and develop his sweet personality. We are so blessed to have his happy easy going spirit in our family.

We had our trauma in the beginning, but it worked out perfectly and he left the hospital a week later in great shape!

Today we celebrated at home watching Isaac DESTROY his cake and open his present. The pictures below show the progression of destruction! He loved every second eating his mini John Deere Tractor (or at least that's the look I was going for). At the end he was taking fist fulls and just squeezing the cake through he chubby fingers and smearing it all over. All we could do was sit and laugh!



Isaac playing with his new instrument toys.
Happy Birthday chunky monkey! We love you!

12:01 AM

Somehow last night I found myself at Barnes & Noble with about 100 other girls waiting for the release of Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer. When I say other girls let me just paint you a picture! Ages: 12-15 and dressed up in PROM dresses! Yes as you entered the store there was a sign saying: Welcome to Prom. It was...interesting. How did I get there at 10:30 pm you ask? Well, I saw Mama Mia last night with some friends. I loved loved loved the movie, pretty similar to the Broadway version, but seriously how can you beat ABBA!!! I was honestly restraining myself from bursting out in song and getting up and dancing. I'm sure the other girls are greatful I didn't as well. Anyway, after the movie someone suggested stopping by the bookstore and seeing what it was like. Well , after popping our heads in and feeling TOTALLY out of place we entered a trivia contest and I won! My prize was a Godiva Chocolate Bar with something like "Bite Me" on it (in honor of the book) and I got a ticket to be first in line. So of course we had to stay. Now I am proud to say that I bought the first copy of Breaking Dawn from the West Des Moines Barnes & Noble! I haven't started reading it yet, but I can hardly wait. All I know is there better be some resolution at the end...and it BETTER envolve Edward! (we did take pictures to document the event..I think honestly more as blackmail for eachother so pictures will be posted later)

Slide Mania

So on one of the days out in Utah Ben's folks rented this mammoth of a slide and had it set up in their back yard as part of our family reunion weekend. And oh my gosh...it was SOOOOO fun! The kids and adults loved it. It was entertainment for hours on end. In the beginning we just slid down it dry but the sun quickly made it too hot for the little kids. So we had no other option but to turn the hose on it, and it became on huge slip and slide. It was so fun to watch the little kids just shoot down it. My favorite was our little nephew, Oliver, decided to strip down and take his diaper off and go down. I've never seen something so funny...he flew down that slide and would bounce off the back wall. What a funny kid! Some of the adults even got in on the action, which provided for even MORE entertainment!

Ben getting ready!

Dad/Grandpa getting some words of encouragement

Natali prefering to watch from a distance

Dad finally got her to go. Cute thing covered her eyes with her hands at the top until they actually went. Next year she will be ready to do it on her own!

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!