Turn!

We were trying to get Elsa to talk when Inga came along and decided Elsa needed to turn.  She is very proud of the fact that she can do this as, you will see.  Elsa's reaction is typical for her interactions with Inga.  She just takes it like a champ!

Farewell, Aunt Kerry!

Today was our last day to spend time with Aunt Kerry.  Tomorrow she and Uncle Louie move from Iowa City to Austin so we're not sure when we'll see them next.  I was firmly instructed by Kerry to keep the blog updated.  I promise to do my best!  We will miss them so much while they are there.

Hard Work!

Elsa has been working so hard on keeping her head up when she's on her tummy.  Tonight she did a great job!

Elsa's Baptism

Elsa was baptized on August 24, 2008.  We were so glad that, once again, David Jiruska could be there to present our daughter to the congregation.

Blank Park Zoo

Jason took a few days off work and we took a day trip to Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.  It was misty all day so there were very few other people there.  This made it a perfect day for us to be there...no crowds!  However, it also meant that many of the exhibits were closed.  Still, Inga loved seeing all the animals and Elsa enjoyed her ride in the stroller all day.

Inga watching the fish.

Jason and Inga crawled into the prairie dog exhibit to watch their little heads pop out of their burrows.

Looking at the lions up close.

Watching the zebras.

Elsa enjoying her ride.  

Shake it, Elsa!

Elsa is starting to figure out how to use her hands...well, that's probably an exaggeration. She really just holds onto everything she touches. It's a cute little video, though.

Sophie, George, and Emi

Cousins Sophie, George, and Emi came over for a playdate. Hunna stayed home to do nothing...as Sophie put it. Sophie tried so hard to get Inga to play with her but Inga just wouldn't give in. About an hour after their arrival, Inga finally let Sophie pick her up to go look at the puppies next door. Inga was so worn out after they left, she fell asleep eating lunch. She went to bed with pizza crust in hand. I tried three times to take it away but did not succeed. Whatever floats your boat little girl!

Inga wanted no part of this picture! Emi, Sophie, and George were happy that Elsa stuck around for the camera, though.

Chuck E. Cheese

We met Renee and her daycare kids at Chuck E. Cheese. Inga had a great time exploring and riding the rides. She also enjoyed walking around with Kylie who took Inga under her wing for the morning.

Inga, Kylie, and Isaac. Ashley's back there, too, but she disappeared when I took the picture.

All done!

Inga cheesing for the camera with Chuck.

Elsa was a ball of excitement!

Inga with Ashley, Nicole, and Kylie. Ashley and Nicole were in my class the year I had Inga. I loved my morning report they brought me each day of what Inga had done once I dropped her off at Renee's.

Final Playgroup of the Summer

We had our last Summer Playgroup of the year. Everyone is heading back to school...well, most of us are anyway! We will try to get together throughout the year at various times but for sure plan on meeting up weekly again next summer! We lined up all the babies in birth order and took pictures of them. Then we though we should do the same with the toddlers. It was much harder to do than it sounds! The toddlers aren't in birth order...we were lucky to get them all seated on the stairs for more than three seconds all at once! It will be fun to compare these pictures to what they will look like at the end of next summer.

The babies...From bottom to top-Josie, Emma, Ramsay, Elsa, Drake, Brekin, and Isabel.

Josie, Emma, and Ramsay

Elsa, Drake, Brekin, and Isabel

The Toddlers...From the top left-Grace, Payson, Crew (clinging to Mom for dear life), Ella (the only one who actually smiled for the camera), Addison, Gracie (didn't want to show her cute face), and Inga (ready to take off once no one was looking)! What a cute bunch of uncooperative little kids!

We tried one more time but Crew had already made his escape and Inga was on her way. At least you get to see Gracie's face in this one!

Discoveries

Inga discovered what pigtails look like and Elsa finally discovered her thumb. The other day I was driving around town and I looked in the back seat, both girls were asleep with their thumbs in their mouths! I wish I had my camera but you'll just have to use your imaginations. We are hoping that bribery will work one day to rid the girls of this habit!

Bubble Bikini

Bath time is always an adventure with Daddy. During this bathing session, Daddy dressed Inga in a bikini made of bubbles. She also ended up with a huge crown of bubbles on her head...but that has become a regular event when Dad's in charge!

Jenny & Addy

We finally had a chance to get together with Jenny & Addy this summer! We hadn't seen them since I was pregnant so we were long overdue for a visit. Addy is about four months older than Inga and I was so impressed by how large her vocabulary was compared to Inga's. Inga wasn't wanting to get her picture taken that day so we didn't get a good one of her with Addy. At one point Addy decided she wanted to take a picture so we have the one of Jenny's face (sort of) and the window! We had a great time playing and catching up.

Three Little Couch Potatoes

OK, so it was almost time to go home and the kids had been playing hard. Inga decided to take a break and watch a little "Yo Gabba Gabba" when Payson joined her. Crew got interested and decided it looked like a good idea, too. The boys were a little hestitant about getting their pictures taken but Inga was happy to say, "Cheese!" for the camera!

Buddy's Back!

We found Buddy again last night. Inga was excited to see him but not as excited about holding him this time. Enjoy the videos!

Cleaning Out the Guest Room

Since I was pregnant when we moved into this house I never really got a chance to organize our basement bedroom. It had been slightly full of boxes until my parents decided they should clean out their attic, shed, garage, second attic, and so on. They called and said they were going to come by to drop off my boxes. I was thinking it would be a couple of boxes. Nope! Their van, with the seats taken out, was filled with boxes. Our basement bedroom then became FILLED with items from my past. There was literally no floor space left in the room after they dropped it all off. I have slowly been making my way through everything they thought was worth saving...my favorites being the French papers from high school where I scored a D+ and an F. Those are always grades you want to keep, right?! Anyway, today I finally decided today was the day! Jason played with the girls all day and I cleaned and organized that room. It's not perfect yet but there are only a couple more boxes to go through. The rest will be put on a garage sale. I'm so excited to see that the room actually looks like a room again! It's not a storage garage anymore! While I was in my frantic cleaning and organizing mode, Jason sent Inga my way in a couple treasures she found while I was tossing.

We will be turning that room into a playroom once we are all done organizing. It will then be our goal to keep most of the toys that now clutter the rest of the house contained to one room. It's going to work, right?

Patty Cake

Inga was playing patty cake with Elsa and I was able to get to the camera in time to get it on video. I apologize for the bad lighting! Inga also tries to get Elsa to dance at the end.

Summer Playgroup

We started a playgroup this summer of mainly teachers and their children. We have one non-teacher in the group but she only works part-time so I invited her to join us. There are 8 moms, 7 toddlers, and 7 babies in the group. The babies were all born between the end of January and the beginning of June. Three babies were in May alone! One mom is due in Spetember with her second. We get together on Tuesday mornings and the kids all love it. We will be sad when school starts again and play group will be no more! I have stolen a couple pictures from Jaclyn and Michele. I hope to get more pictures during playgroup soon! These two pictures are of Grace, Shelby, and Inga sitting in Grace's toy bins.

Elsa and Her Mobile

We have discovered that Elsa LOVES her mobile. She gets so excited when she hears the music and looks up to see all the sea animals rotating above her head! Inga just stared at it when she was younger. You'll see how excited Elsa gets about it!

Genova Picnic

Unfortunately I wasn't as quick as Jaclyn with the camera so I didn't get any pictures of Grace with Inga. They had a great time playing together, though! Here are a few of Inga running around the lodge. While we were there, Inga was using her hot dog bun as a phone. Apparently you can communicate with just about anything!

After the picnic, we stopped by the entrance to see the reindeer. They pretty much ran away right as we got to the fence. Inga was happy to see them, though. She probably would have been more excited if she wasn't so worn out from playing so hard!

Great-Uncle Danny & Great-Aunt Judi

Elsa was able to meet her Great-Uncle Danny & Great-Aunt Judi this week. They stopped in for a short visit to Cedar Rapids so we didn't have a chance to get many pictures. We did, however, get this one of Danny holding Elsa for the first time. She was very content in his arms!