Monday, June 27, 2011

Storm Damage

Last night a big thunderstorm with high winds hit our area. When Brian went downstairs to head off to work this morning around 4:45am, I heard him say, "What the heck?" Not hearing anything else I went back to sleep. After I got up at a reasonable hour I noticed the deck was strewn with gill pieces. Brian sent me a text that said The grill was upside down on the deck this morning so I flipped it back over. Thinking that was a bad sign, I took a walk around the property and discovered that the top of one of our trees had snapped off and smashed into our dog kennel. Thankfully the dogs were inside, so there were no injuries. However, I'm pretty interested to see how Brian is going to fix this one. It did a good number on the fencing. Does homeowners insurance cover kennel damage?On a brighter note, we do own a chainsaw and at least it wasn't a tornado. I feel that living in Iowa can be hazardous to your health.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

2 months and a milestone

No longer is Philip a little newborn- he's a 2-month old baby. Oh and today he rolled over for the first time! :)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Cute kiddo

Don't you think green is my color?

Zzzzzz....

Ever since Philip was born he has slept with both his hands positioned over his head. This is apparently how he is most comfortable and he fusses until he is able to reach this perfect sleeping position. When he was a newborn he wouldn't accept being swaddled unless his hands and arms were free.

A Philip Study

Just a couple of fun photos I took during play time. Philip loves playtime, but hates tummy time.

Mom headed home...

Mom left to head back to Valdez yesterday. It was sad to send her back home and we're missing her lots. She did dishes and laundry and cooked and walked the baby and gave Philip bottles and baked and babysat while Brian and I went out or ran errands and fed the dogs and gave Philip baths and did tummy time and changed diapers and kept me company while Brian was at work.
Thanks for coming Mom!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Des Moines Farmers' Market

Today Mom, Brian, Philip and I took an early drive down to Des Moines for the downtown Farmers' Market. This is a huge market with lots of fresh produce, local craftsmen, and entertainment. Philip said he was up for the adventure, so we all headed south!

The Market takes place downtown in front of the courthouse. A nice backdrop for sure. The temperature was a nice 73 degrees thanks to an overcast sky. Brian was on stroller detail. He's really embraced this whole dad thing. Thankfully Philip has a laid-back personality (probably gets that from his Dad), so even after a 2-hour car ride he was happy to be pushed around the crowded market. "Let's go!" Well, happy for the most-part. Eventually he started asking when we were going to stop for a snack......so we took a bottle break. Which was good because it also turned out he needed a diaper and outfit change. The highlight of the morning was probably this group of belly dancers entertaining the crowd......or maybe this toothless senior belly dancer who danced with two live snakes around her neck! It was especially interesting when said snakes got caught in her hair and she needed a fellow dancer's help to get them unwrapped. *shutter* Not to worry, she continued to dance through the whole thing- pretty impressive, actually. Brian tried some chocolate-covered bacon. Now he can cross it off his "bucket list." He said it was actually pretty tasty- sweet and salty. We were happy to be home after a tiring morning of shopping and driving...and there may have been some gourmet cupcakes (and Iowa coffee- not shown) purchased that made a lovely end to the day.Also not shown are the purchased tomatoes, cucumbers, cauliflower, peaches, mint (for mojitos) and fresh bread. An excellent Saturday spent together!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Moving to NY from AK via AZ

Earlier this week our sister-in-law Tammy, her kids Bethany and William, and her parents Mark and Connie, stopped in to visit. Tammy & Nate are moving from Alaska to New York. Tammy was visiting her folks, who were kind enough to make the drive with her and the kids from Arizona. Nathan stayed in Fairbanks a few extra days and was meeting all of them in New York. I know, complicated stuff, isn't it? Moving out of Alaska is such a project!

Anyway, the crew was only able to stay one night, but we had a lovely visit. The kiddos needed to burn some energy, so we started with a trip to a local park to try and accomplish just that.

Bethany digging in the sand- this is a really cool piece of playground equipment. Doesn't William look like a pro?There were also horses to ride...Even Mark got in on the fun! Tammy, Connie, Mom and Philip (in the stroller) enjoyed the sunshine (and not being in a car, I'm sure). I don't have too many additional photos to put in this post, as everyone left the next morning. But, we are so thankful they were able to stop by and look forward to seeing them next time in New York!

Best of luck with the move, Nathan and Tammy!

Mom's visiting!

Mom Platt is visiting this week! She's spending lots of time snuggling with her 12th grandbaby. I should clarify and say that Philip is not spending a lot of time sleeping on Grandma because once he falls asleep she immediately puts him in his swing or pack n' play. She said he needs to learn to sleep alone and not be snuggled all the time or he'll only sleep while being held. Which might sound slightly harsh, but in the time that Mom has been here Philip has been sleeping better at night in his co-sleeper (and not asking to be held or snuggled at night)- he'll eat and then go right back to sleep. What a wonderful thing! Clearly wisdom from a mother of 5 and grandmother of 12.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Call me old fashioned...

Scene: Check out at Walmart

Young Fort Dodge Checker: "What a cute baby. What's his name?"

Me: "Thank you. His name is Philip."

Checker: "Wow, really? Why did you pick such an old-fashioned name?"

Hmmm. I didn't think that Philip was old-fashioned, seeing how Brian has an Uncle Phillip and my father and grandfather's middle names are also Philip. This speaks volumes about Fort Dodge where many of the boy babies have names like Skyler, Destiny, or Angel

Just so you all know, apparently Brian and I aren't on the cutting edge of trendy baby names.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

My new job

Today I gave my notice at work so I can be a full-time mom. It is sad to leave a job I really enjoyed, but Brian and I agreed that with Brian's work schedule it would be a challenge to have us both working. So, we're going to make some financial adjustments and have me home full-time with Philip. I'm so excited, but this is going to be a big change...

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

How are the dogs?

Lots of people have asked us how the dogs are adjusting to life with a baby in the house. For the most part they ignore Philip (Mattie occasionally sneaks a lick...just to see what he tastes like), though they have to share our time more than they used to. On a positive note, we are home a lot more than we used to be, so they're pretty happy about that. The biggest challenge for them, I think, is that they have to now work around all of Philip's baby gear- and there's a lot of it.

The other day I parked Philip's jogging stroller in one of Mattie's favorite napping spots.

I don't know how she managed to shoehorn herself between the stroller and the door, but she did. Poor pup- it's a tough life around here.

Smiles!

Philip has started to smile! He's our happy little guy with a sweet personality. "My name is Philip and I'm happy to be here!"

Friday, June 3, 2011

Deadliest Catch

This is what it looks like when a father and son decide to watch Deadliest Catch on Netflix starting with Season 1: Episode 1.