Third Person: Monthly Posts Are Better Than None

Kieks is three months old, I'm back to work, and life is a new, crazy normal. A recap of our end of summer fun:

First, our annual friends weekend at the cottage. When seven short years ago our group was 8 adults. We drank. We swam. We kept on drinking. But for three days this August the population of Wautoma was 20 larger. Beverage of choice: milk. I don't know about the dads but I feel secure in suggesting all four mommies were braced for a chaotic weekend. In the end though the weather was in our favor - that new raft got the workout of a lifetime - and it occurred to me that the 4-and-above crowd was pretty good at keeping themselves busy. Sure there were plenty of tot-sized-meltdowns but with a parent in every corner of the place there was no escaping a watchful eye.

new this year: the de-sand then wash your hands line

the yung'uns were fed early and often. not our first rodeo.

what the...?

dirt and sand? check. big trucks? check. all's well

fishies making laps around the raft

e-man sums it up for us

the pontoon doubled as a playpen

kieks hanging with mom

best game of the weekend: push the daddy!

hiLARious

the bansemar men

love those gummy baby grins

most common phrase of the weekend: "i see one, where's the other?"

cute ladies

love a good daddy chair

mrs. kroening has an adorable activity to keep everyone busy. annnnnnnnnd there's our star student.

inflatable kayaks keep these six year olds busy

and this five year old, too

this turkey still wouldn't jump off the dock. for being such a wild man he's not crazy about the water yet

this is more like it

lovelies

this is kiera's kind of swim

post-bath snuggles (like the mohawk? it's how all the cool babies wear it)

look at this bunch! (5, 2.5 months, 2, 4, 6, 1, 4, 6, 1, 2, 2, 4). we are all so lucky.

We also threw in our annual trip to State Fair where I continued my Nursing Throughout SE WI Tour 2014 (standing up...next to a livestock barn...not an exhibit, thanks), and a trip to lovely LaFarge, WI over Labor Day for cousin Cally's wedding. Did I get photos at either? No. Booooo. I also started back at work the week of Labor Day so Matt took a couple days off and spent some quality time with little Kiera. They are now BFFs.

So then Kiera turned three months and life was back in gear! She has grown so much over the last few weeks and it's fun to see her hit some of those big developmental milestones. She's smiling a ton and will eek out her version of a giggle every now and then along with lots of cooing and if she's mad, plenty of raspberries. She's really reaching for objects now too and starting to shove stuff right in her mouth. She loves her a pooey (Luke's name for the burp rags that he used to chew on and now is his little bedtime security blanket). She continues to be a sleeping machine. She doesn't sleep through every night but if she gets up it's only once and she will go right back down after a meal. I've been very paranoid that she hasn't spent enough time on her tummy - or better put, off her head. It's hard to get on the floor with her for any extended stretch with the two others around. So Kiera's spent a lot of time in her Bjorn, which seems to be doing her just fine since she's now strong enough to spend a few happy stretches in her Bumbo. I don't remember the others being happy in the Bumbo this early but I also don't remember what I ate this morning. Bottom line she's getting stronger and I just want to eat her up.

she does smile in here, i swear

Oh, in other random news we have had some visitors this whole spring and summer. A perk of living in a semi-wooded area is the guests. This mama and her four babies parade through the yard a couple times a day chowing down and destroying my flowering plants. The kids have appropriately named her Mama Gobble.