Outside with the Boys

I love this video for two reasons. The first is you get to see Otto's "On All Fours" crawl- which just shows me that he is that much closer to walking. Second, Eli is in a script making stage and he is seen here doing one of his favorite things- putting words in my mouth. Both things seem to be happening at the same time. Silly boys...

Our Little Cleaner

Otto has taken a liking to carrying around a cloth and wiping things down. It can keep him entertained for quite a while.

Finding a Cicada Killer with Eli

It is always exciting to find something unusual from nature happen right before your eyes and the other day Eli and I got to experience just that. We were out back hanging out and a cicada killer attacked a cicada right next to me. Eli and I watched the wasp carry the cicada up the tree and begin it's seemingly brutal act of laying its eggs in the cicada. I ran in the house to get my camera to capture some of these strange happenings and Eli's thoughts on it.

Some things never change...

As long as I can remember my big brother Steve has had a drawl to hunting down moody kitty cats to "love" on them. This day Otto was wanting to join in the fun. Can you see the cat, Rubes, hiding under the chair? Poor kitty hissed at me and Otto the whole time we were staying with Patty. I never did anything to him, but for some reason he decided he didn't like us. 

Otto checking out Uncle Steve's shave.

Otto on the floor for a closer look.

Remembering with Family

Otto and I traveled up to Minnesota for a brief visit with family to remember and say good-bye my Grandpa Gordy who passed away earlier this month. We had some sweet times of remembering Grandpa and sharing many good stories about him. We also spent plenty of time loving on the babies, enjoying good food, and just being together. Here are a few pictures - the first two are from a Christmas gathering in 2006 and the rest are from the three days we were in MN.

Grandpa Gordy and Eli

Grandpa Gary holding Otto and Grandma Debby holding Addie

Dad and my big brother Steve watching the babies play. Something we did a lot of those three days.

Otto trying to give Addie kisses- which we found out later was really bites and not kisses... poor Addie.

Patty and Steve with Otto.

Steve and Otto and Grandma Gerrie in the background

Grandma Gerrie holding Addie and Mom holding Otto

Patty and Addie

Grandma Debby and Otto

Grandma Gerrie and Otto

Singing Fish

At Brian's parent's boat house there is a singing fish and Eli was just fascinated. He watched that fish for at least 15-20 minutes - singing the same songs over and over. 

On the Mississippi River in MN

We were able to spend a couple of very relaxing afternoons out on the river with Brian's parents Dave and Kay while we visited MN this summer. One of the days we met up with Brian's brother Tony and his wife Cali. We had a great time together enjoying the water, beach, sun, and sand.  

Auntie Cali, Otto, and Me

Grandpa Dave helping Eli "play" fish in the Mississippi with the support of Papa and Uncle Tony.

Grandma Kay and Otto

Brian holding the rope in the Lock and Dam, Eli resting- but really wanting to get on top of the boat with Papa, and Me and Otto just hanging out. 

Going through the lock and dam.

Grandpa Dave and Eli driving the boat

Uncle Tony and Eli with Sadie dog and Me dipping Otto's feet into the river- he was just giggling like crazy (and Grandma getting pictures of it all).

Visiting with Addie!

We recently visited our family in MN and we were able to spend a couple of days with my sister Patty and her husband Mike and my sweet little niece Addie who is almost 6 months old here. Addie is such an amazingly sweet little girl, she was always quick to give a whole hearted smile and happily sit in just about anyone's lap. She also just adores her Mama and Papa! I have posted a few pictures here from our time. One of the days was Patty's birthday and Mike made us all a great lunch and dinner and got Patty this beautiful raspberry cake. We all had a great time together. 

Curious Little Boy!

Otto is going through a curious stage. He likes to pull everything out of boxes or cabinets or if he can get his hands on it - all the wet wipes out of the package. As you can see from the pictures it really makes him happy. The unfortunate part is that he leaves a wake of mess behind him lately. 

Our little Puddle Enthusiast

Eli wants to run through all the puddles lately. He is always on the look-out for them. We walked to the park, but Eli just ended up running through the puddle the whole time. I just love how he says "puddle" at the end. 

Painting... or as Eli said "Decorating" a Mass

Here are two videos of Eli painting. We were chatting about it as he went and I thought you might like to hear what he is thinking as he paints a picture. Since he usually likes to share everything he is thinking it wasn't too hard to capture. 

Slugs!

Eli enjoys playing in the backyard with worms and other crawly creatures. He often goes around turning over rocks to see what is under them. In this video we found a slug. In case you are wondering, we saved the slug in the end. 

Otto Pulling-Up

Otto is pulling up on just about everything- the couch, the coffee table, Rody and really anything that he can use to help him pull-up. He just stands there so far. I imagine he will be walking along while holding-on soon. In the second picture he kept snuggling up to the blanket... so sweet. 

Reef Tank in Action

Here is a video of our reef tank. All the corals and fish from the Indo-Pacific. 

Chasing Eli

Here is a short video of me chasing Eli on Rody, it isn't too easy to do while holding the camera. So, it is pretty short and bumpy- watch out! if you get motion sickness.

Otto on the Move!

Here is a short video of Otto crawling. He is getting pretty fast! Can you hear him growling and laughing? I never thought I would find growling so cute. 

Otto 9 Months

Otto is now on the move, constantly, unless he is sitting to eat or explore a toy. I sometimes think he would love a human hamster wheel. One of his favorite words to say is "mama." So sweet. 

Boating on the Ohio

Here are a couple pictures of us cruisin' along the Ohio river with our friends Aaron and Marla. Otto and Eli both love the boat for different reasons. Otto is asleep 1 minute into the ride... because it is so relaxing, and Eli is just sooo excited to be in the boat on the water.  Eli also loves to play with his digger and dump truck in the sand on the beaches. 

Eli's Storm Series

One of Eli's favorite things to do lately is paint especially since it is one of the things he can do alone (without his little brother crawling on him). Lately he has been painting storms, here are 4 he has done in the past week (by the way he named them all):

"Scraping Storm"

"Yellow Storm with Red Up Up" Eli gave this one to our friends Aaron and Marla

"Rain Storm"

"Standing Storm" - this one he painted for our friend Stephanie Spencer.