Just Us...

To celebrate our anniversary and have a quick summer vacation, Scott and I went to Hermann, MO for the weekend. We had never left Karsten overnight before - so this was a big test for all of us. He went to daycare like normal on Friday, then Grandma and Grandpa picked him up on Friday and the spoiling began! Shannon sent me a few texts that Karsten was having a good time - it sounds like he was definitely Grandpa's boy this weekend and wanted to sit on his lap a lot. Poor lil guy is getting in his molars, so his teeth are hurting and he likes to be held more than normal - you know grandpa and grandma didn't mind that at all. :)

Scott and I at Stone Hill Winery. It is up on a hill with a beautiful view of Hermann.




Stone Hill was the only winery we went to that had a tour of their property and caves. It was cool to hear the story of how Stone Hill has evolved over time and see all of this history that the caves held.


After Stone Hill, we went for a tasting at the Hermanhoff Winery then to this great little restaurant for dinner. We drove around town a bit and saw the sun setting over the Missouri river - beautiful!


Then we headed back to our room and had a glass of wine on our patio while we watched the sun set.




We're finally getting the hang of taking a picture like this - it's only taken 9 years.


We're pretty sure the wind vane had an H for our name rather than for Hermannhoff. :)


View of the Hermanhoff winery as well as some of the guest houses up on the hill. We stayed in one of the guest houses, but unfortunately you can't see it in this pic.


That was just the first day! The next day we set out and visited several wineries outside of Hermann. Our favorite winery was Bommarito Winery - great wine, friendly owners and beautiful property! We will definitely go back in the future!

Overall a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I'm so glad Karsten hd a great time - thanks again grandma and grandpa for watching him!

Bookworm

We've tried to be good about reading to Karsten ever since he was born. Some days we would forget, but lately we're trying to make a much more concerted effort to read a few books each night.

He enjoyes reading interactive books - ones that have items on the page he can touch (a fuzzy ear on a panda) or a flap that's hiding something fun (peek a boo to the turtle!)

I hope he learns to enjoy reading as much as I do. When I was little, my mom always told me that if I wasn't nice to the books, they wouldn't tell me a story. I remembered that and always took good care of my books and loved to read.

I love this...

I love walking into Karsten's room at night and seeing him sleeping like this. He's quickly growing out of all of his footie PJs and we're replacing them with two piece sets with no feet - only slightly less adorable. Hopefully he will continue to sleep like this for a while, it makes me smile every time I see his lil bottom in the air and his arms tucked under himself.

1 year Stats

Karsten's one year checkup was today. The doctor said he was doing well, he was at or above all of the key milestones.

He weighs 25 lbs (80th percentile)
He is 30.25 inches tall (75th percentile)
His head is 19inches around (90th percentile)

Unfortunately, the one year appointment means that he also gets shots. He was not happy about that at all - there were lots of tears. We're watching carefully for any reactions, and so far so good!

What to Wear (tiny rant)

As we prepared for Karsten's one year pictures and our family pictures, we had to decide what all of us were going to wear. For those of you who have done family pictures lately, you KNOW how challenging this can be. On Friday night, we set out to find something for Karsten to wear.

WHY is it that stores seem to think that moms of baby boys don't want to buy cute clothing for their kids? I was soooo disappointed in the selection of clothes for boys at Macy's - I actually asked a sales person because I was convinced I must be missing the rest of the baby boy clothing. Nope, turns out their selection is just horrible.

We went to Crazy 8 and found a few potential items but nothing I was in love with. Checked Baby Gap and didn't find anything. Next up was Children's Place where I lucked out with an adorable pair of plaid shorts that matched our outfits. We just needed a shirt then we would be set.

Off we went to Dillard's. I was getting hopeful as we walked through half a floor dedicated to little girl clothes, but no luck - there was a small selection of baby boy clothing. GRRR. By now I was just annoyed.

A quick stop at Gymboree - nope, no luck. Back to Crazy 8 and I found a shirt that was perfect with the shorts...success!

When will retailers learn that they're leaving a ton of money on the table by not making MORE cute clothes for baby boys? Be creative, be innovative and show us cute clothes - boy moms want their lil guys to look adorable too! We're not buying bows or tights, but make a cute hat or shoes to go with the outfit and we'll be sold too.

Mr. Independent

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!

Scott's old tractor from when he was a little boy provided a fun photo opp for the boys. Scott put Karsten in the trailer and hopped on the front. Luckily we were all there with our cameras so we didn't miss the photo opp. Now, I 'may' have called the trailer a caboose and was informed that tractor's don't have cabooses, they have trailers. LOL...noted.


Then we wanted to get a pic of the grandkids on the tractor. Karsten was not thrilled with his seat so he wouldn't even look at the camera.


And then he was done, done, done with this seating arrangement.


We got better results with this seating arrangement. Still couldn't get Karsten to smile, but he was happier.


He was having so much fun with the tractor, I was able to get a few more pictures!






Trent and Taylor got these little flags at church - it was just Karsten's size.












Then it was time for tractor rides.


Just chillin'






Grandpa and Karsten

Over the river and through the woods...

to grandma's house we go!

We headed out of town for the fourth to celebrate Linda's birthday! Kelli, David and the boys came as well, it was a fun weekend!

Karsten having a bottle on the road. Yeah yeah, we're still doing the bottle thing. No worries though, we're planning to phase them out.


And it worked - he fell asleep! He doesn't sleep very well in this carseat because of the angle he's sitting at. Someone gave us this head support as a shower gift and we're finally putting it to use. It helped him sleep much better without his head bobbing around.


When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Karsten had a lot to say. Since we knew Grandpa would be working hard at harvest, Karsten wore his John Deere shirt just for Grandpa.


Lucky for Karsten, Grandma has a swing. He is a big fan of swinging!


While Karsten was swinging, the big boys (Trent, Taylor and Scott) were playing in the fort. I was pushing Karsten and next thing I know Scott is in the fort. I didn't get a picture of him going down the slide - that would have been a good picture. :)


Trent and Taylor had a good time pushing Karsten!


Having way too much fun to take an afternoon nap, but that doesn't mean he wasn't getting sleepy!


Taylor showed Karsten this ride on toy. It was so cute - he showed him how to push the buttons for it to make noise and he wanted to help him get on it. Once Karsten was on it, he thought it was fun, but he was ready to roll.


...and they're off. After a few reminders for Taylor to take the corners gently (and not unintentionally dump Karsten off the toy), they were both having a great time!






The boys wanted to pick Karsten up and hold him; however, Karsten is having an independent streak where he doesn't really want anyone to hold him for very long. We managed to get a few pictures - Karsten was willing to stay put as long as he could hold on to this plate. Why...who knows, but it worked! We did not get a smile though, just a blank stare.


Karsten and Uncle David


In case you had any doubt that he liked playing outside, here he is showing that he wants to go outside.


Karsten was happy to see Grandpa when he came in from harvest.


Trent, Taylor and David shot off some fireworks in the driveway. They had so much fun and it was fun to watch! The only downside were the mosquitos that chose to feast on me as soon as I got outside. Kartsen was already in bed and slept through the whole thing.