my day with the boys & our weekend

Thursday I had the opportunity to stay home with the boys because our sitter had to to take the day off sort of last minute. So I took advantage of the dreary, rainy day with the boys and we headed out after Ben's morning nap to the mall. I packed lunches for the boys and off we went to the children's museum. Luke always has so much fun going from room to room. A couple of his favorites are the airplane room, train room, and of course imagine acres, the farm room! Ben even enjoyed the museum this time...he loved all the people, the crazy kids running everywhere, and all the commotion! Ben will let out this little scream when he gets excited and he was letting it out quite a bit during our visit to the museum. Before we grabbed lunch, we visited Luke's favorite store Scheels! We had to pick out Sean some hunting boots as he was headed to the farm later Thursday to turkey hunt with his uncle Paul. The boys did so well as we shopped around and of course, looked at all the animals on display. We had a little lunch, ran to Target quick, and off we went to get home for naps. Luke was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot. Our little guy plays so hard, he was snoozing in no time. We made the transfer, got Ben down, and when both boys woke we headed over to our good friends the Reckers. We have been so blessed by a very wonderful small group of close friends that we do so much with. Wednesday night the four of us girls were out for pedicures and drinks, realized through conversation that all of our husbands were gone Thursday night, so we decided play group and pizza after naps was a must! The kids had so much fun and it made our evening fly by!
Friday afternoon I took off with the boys to my parents farm to join Sean up there for part of the weekend. We made a quick trip Friday afternoon, gave the boys their fix of the farm, and headed back Saturday night after the boys were bathed and in pj's. I have to be careful when I tell Luke we are going to the farm because he gets so excited, he won't stop talking about it and basically sit by the door until it is time to go. I had to spell it out to Ms. Judi that I was taking them up that afternoon! When it was time to go, I told Luke I had a surprise for him and started backing he and Ben's bag. He screamed "Nannie Bop farm!!!" He knew as soon as he saw his bag getting packed where we were headed. He quickly grabbed everything out of his bed, his blankie, white blanket, orange blanket, Buzz, Monkey, red pillow, and his pumpkin pillow...all had to go with! To say Luke loves going to Bop & Nannie's is an understatement, he talks about going at least once a day, if not several times. I love how much he loves it and seeing him run wild on the farm. He truly embraces "life on the farm". Sean and his Uncle Paul had some good luck hunting, which I will upload those pictures later, these pictures below are from my phone. Luke really enjoyed helping the "wash the turkey"!

One of Luke's favorite things to do at the Children's museum! If you ask him where he is flying to he will say "Eattle to say Hi to Nate & Debbie" Sometimes at night before bed when we say our prayers, he prays for Nate and Debbie and will say we need to go to the mall so he can fly the jet plane to Eattle!

Ben most likely be mad at me someday for posting this picture, but it is too funny not to post! Ben is always on the go and super hard to stay in one place long enough to get a diaper back on. This is Ben lately...loves to climb up the slide!
This is Thursday afternoon, after both boys got up from their naps. I apologize for the quality, but I love how Ben is looking up at Luke with the biggest smile on his face! He loves to watch his big brother...and go where he goes!

Luke on the farm...ready to go out with Bop in the field
He spent most of the afternoon/evening in "tiny blue" with Bop hauling manure


Bop and Luke hard at work!

Luke enjoying his day on the farm..."doesn't get much better than this" he is thinking

Ben loved watching Bop drive back and forth through the yard in his tractor. Bop took a little break from farming and came to see little Ben. It is so funny, because this is Luke's favorite spot to go watch all the events outside. Ben kept crawling over to the area and tried climbing up the wall so he could see what was going on

Nannie and Ben watching out the window

"Hey Ladies..."

We have been enjoying our two little guys so much, they are both at such fun ages right now! Luke is talking up a storm, repeating, putting together a lot of thoughts & sentences, and showing a lot of emotion. Ben is mobile mobile, chattering ma-ma & da-da, waving bye bye, antagonizing his brother, and melting our hearts! Both boys love spending time outside and enjoy being on the go. This weekend Sean and I took the boys on a "family run" and were not quite sure how it was going to go. The longest I have gone with them has been 2 miles with snacks! Sunday we wanted to knock out four miles so after Ben's nap we loaded up and headed out, they were CHAMPS! They both did so well, it made our run an enjoyable family outing (if that makes sense!?). Luke wanted to run, so when we got closer to home we let him out and we all raced up the hill. Another family favorite is enjoying a trip to a local yogurt shop, Ghuerties. Tonight was one of those nights that I was itching for a little frozen yogurt so we headed out after dinner. Luke opened the door and saw two young girls sitting at a table enjoying their yogurt, his reaction was to shout, "Hey ladies!" Sean looked back and me and lipped "hey ladies"! I was laughing so hard I was crying...seriously, where on earth does he come up with this stuff?!?! That's our social little Luke!
One of my favorite moments with both boys is putting them to bed. With Ben it is our cuddle time and I find myself spending a few extra minutes putting him to bed because I could just eat up his sweetness and snuggles. Putting Luke to bed is our time to "chat". We do the routine of potty, brush teeth, pjs, and books. Its after the books that I enjoy our little conversations. Every night is a treat, not knowing where his thoughts are going to take his conversations, but loving every one of them. Whether it is praying for Santa Claus, talking about the light on his smoke alarm and fire trucks, saying Hi to Nannie, Bop, and Jim Joe, going to the mall to catch a jet plane to fly to "Eattle" to visit Nate & Debbie or talking about black bears outside! His imagination is running wild and we are enjoying the ride with him! Sean and I have been talking a lot about savoring each of these moments, even though some days are harder than others, not sure if we are coming or going keeping our schedules straight, its the small things these boys do and say, the sweet smiles and laughs, that make the moments of chaos so worthwhile!

Luke today after he woke from his nap with snuggles
Luke driving his tractor, hauling "corn"! aka known as a golf club to many!

Ben this morning enjoying breakfast! He is into scrunching up his nose lately

This was Ben's breakfast yesterday morning, Blueberries and Banana do wonders for a facial mask and hair conditioner!

Ben enjoying the stroller while we followed Luke around on his tractor

Easter 2012 & Birthday weekend

Happy Easter 2012 from the Merrick Family

(this is an abnormal picture of Ben, as he always has a smile plastered to his face for the camera, but trying to get both boys looking was a little tricky!)
Ben, on the go at Nannie and Bop's house! Nannie had to get the gates back out!

oh what fun...Luke enjoyed coloring eggs with Aunt Kate, mommy, nannie, and Kolbi! He also cracked a few, thinking we were making eggs!

The boys with Nannie & Bop Easter morning

The Easter Bunny made a stop at Nannie & Bops and left Luke "Madar and Lightening McQueen"! He knows Luke well because this is his latest obsession!

Ben opening his Easter gift that the Easter Bunny left at Nannie and Bop's

Nannie and Ben

Luke enjoying one of his many Easter Egg hunts! He was so funny, he would see an egg and say "Another one" he would pick it up, shake it, and say "What's in it?" And on occasion stop for a snack!

Ben tuckered out from Easter Mass

Ben with Uncle Bryan

With Aunt Kate

The boys with Aunt Kate and Uncle Bryan

Uncle Mitch and Kolbi were home for the weekend as well, but they had to leave early Sunday morning to head to Anamosa. We missed Nate and Debbie but look forward to having them home in July!

Sunday afternoon we made the trek to Davenport to enjoy a late Easter lunch with Sean's family. Here is Aunt Martha with the two boys checking out Luke's findings from the Easter egg hunt

Luke playing around while looking for eggs

The boys arrived home to our house Sunday night to find their baskets full of goodies that the Easter Bunny left for them!

I had the great pleasure of celebrating my birthday on Easter Sunday! We had such an enjoyable weekend, and my wonderful husband and family made the weekend and day so special! We headed up to my parents Friday afternoon, enjoyed fish dinner with my grandparents, siblings, and Aunt Kathy. Saturday morning, bright and early, Bryan, Kate, Sean, Kolbi, and I all participated in a 5k fundraiser for our Catholic school that we attended. My sister in law Kate took 1st for the girls and I took 4th out of 245 runners combined! It was a little chilly, but a great way to start our day. We came home, had a bloody mary, colored Easter eggs, snuck in a little nap, to wake up to a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my amazing husband! Saturday afternoon/evening my parents hosted our extended Einck family get together. It was great to see so many cousins, aunts, and uncles, and my grandma! Sunday morning we had Easter mass, came home to a delicious brunch, opened birthdaygifts, and enjoyed amazing while chocolate raspberry cupcakes my mom made for my birthday! Luke kept singing "happy birthday mommy!" It was too cute. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend made special by so many!

Summer or Spring????

A couple of weekends ago we took advantage of the beautiful 80 degree weather. Now that the temps have become more "Spring like" in the 60s, we are finding ourselves saying it is cold out, but when you are given two weeks of 70 and 80 degree temps, it can be easily done! Sean took Luke out to Lake McBride to go fishing while Ben finished up his afternoon nap. When Ben woke up, we headed out to catch the beautiful afternoon on the lake! I see ourselves enjoying the beauty of Lake McBride State Park quite frequently this summer!

Luke having fun at the park out by the Lake while Sean got the boat out of the water
Ben enjoying the scenery from the bjorn

Luke had so much fun "bishing" and riding in the boat

I asked Sean how he did, as we were not sure how he would handle being on the boat, but he did remarkably well!

Mommy & Ben enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon!

Ride my tractor???

Luke is loving his new tractor! A common question in our house all day long is "Ride my tractor"???

Ben is 7 months old

We celebrated Ben's 7 month this week and can't believe it has been 7 short months since this little boy entered our lives, making it so bright. Ben, you have the most beautiful, contagious smile that brightens our lives and brings so much happiness and joy to our family. As your daddy puts it best, "Benny, your smile lights up the room!" And that it does...
You are a very happy little guy, on the go, and trying to keep up with your big brother already. You have started playing with him more and more, and he is getting use to sharing all of your toys. You love loud noises, big trucks, and lots of excitement. You show your excitement through the cutest little screams that make me laugh. I love your sloppy kisses and I could squeeze you forever.
So Mr. Ben what are you up to this 7 month???
-you are now wearing size 3 diapers
-mostly wearing 6-9 month and some 9-12 month clothes
-we broke out the shorts this week because it was in the 80s all week long, you looked like such a big little boy!
-you are eating three meals a day, fruit and cereal for breakfast, veggies and fruit for lunch, and veggies and cereal for dinner.
-during this month I stopped nursing, however you are still getting some breastmilk bottles
-all your bottles are 6 oz, eating 5 times a day
-you like your bedtime to be around 7pm, sometimes if it is nice and we are outside we can stretch you to 730pm
-you have started to sing to yourself as you fall asleep
-you are sleeping til 5am and will usually go back to sleep for another hour or so after you eat
-you are now down to 2 naps a day, usually 1 1/2 morning and afternoon
-the biggest milestone this month...you became mobile! You are scooting and doing the worm everywhere
-you love to stand up against the toy slide and bounce house
-you love our little tikes swing outside
-you are enjoying the beautiful weather and love being outside
-you scoot to wherever Luke is and try to play with all of the toys he is playing with
-you have two teeth and working on more
-you have a smile that I am in love with and you flash it all day long which makes me happy just thinking about it
-you have started to nap with a little "lovey"
-no longer will you entertain the pacifier, you are over it

Ben, you are a very patient little guy, very content, and easily entertained. You love to sit and watch all the excitement in our house. We love you more that you know and we look forward to watching you grow this month and see what you will learn next! We love you Ben!

Benjamin David Merrick

7 months old

April 3, 2012

Two peas in a pod
What we see all day every day! Love it

you are so happy to be mobile

little guy on the go!

Boys on the go...

Luke received a "very early Birthday present" this weekend! A new john deere tractor! We came up with a behavior chart, a smiley face, and a frown! If he did things that made us happy, he got a check mark under the smiley face, and if he didn't listen, he got one under the frown. We did this for a few days as we talked about picking up his tractor. Now we use it for time on the tractor. It is going ok! Although, when he is misbehaving and I ask him if he wants a check mark under "mama not happy", he will say "no, Luke make mommy happy!"
"peek a boo" Ben is all over the place and finding himself into some pretty unique places!

Last Thursday Luke had his 1st Dentist appointment and he did amazing, and oddly enough enjoyed it. He enjoyed it so much, he cried when we had to leave. The Pediatric Dentist had his office set up like Kinnick Stadium, accompanied with bleacher seats and a huge statue of Herky, Luke was in heaven. He also enjoyed watching cartoons on the TV above his head while they cleaned his teeth. His favorite part of "Dr. Dentist" was when they rinsed his mouth with water and he got to suck on the suction! He thought that was pretty fun! He asked me Friday if he could go to the "Dr. Dentist" again!

The boys playing so well together...sights like this warm my heart SO much! Although sometimes, Ben just gets in Luke's way, but we are working on Luke playing with Ben! This is one of his favorite things to do...climb the slide, do plank, and bang on the slide as hard as he can, screaming at the top of his lungs!

movin' movin' movin'...Ben is all over the house

"Hi mom! I'm just checking things out"