Nora Swinging

I could never get enough of this smile!! She just lights up the room with her smile!

We are joining Mount Olivet Church and on Sunday morning we attended a class to learn a bit about Lutheranism. Bishop and Nora went to the nursery (different rooms) and the teachers went on and on about how happy a baby she is and how they absolutely loved watching her! The thing is.....she is always happy! She's had a double ear infection and you would never know it. She now has a cough and runny nose and that's nothing to her--she just smiles and smiles. She's taking after her Auntie a lot and I couldn't be happier about that! :) Thanks, Shel!

On a different note--regarding the class we attended on Sunday at church. I've been pretty sensitive to Luke's feelings regarding going to a Lutheran church, since he grew up Catholic. He loved the class and later told me he wished it would have lasted longer, as he really enjoyed the discussion. One thing the pastor talked about being a big benefit is the youth ministry and that makes me SO happy! They have a yearly camp in Lutsen, MN and kids from 3rd grade-12th grade can attend. I see many positive opportunities for our family at this church and that's all that really matters to me!

BWCA

Luke and I headed up to Ely on Saturday to "vacation" in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA)! We joined 3 other couples for a week of hard work and fun!

We arrived in Ely Saturday afternoon and after visiting Voyageurs North Outfitters, we made our way to our "hotel" and worked on unpacking and packing our packs, etc.

For many many years Luke and "the guys" went into the BW for an 8 day trip. This was the first year the girls were invited. The tradition is to eat a Bucky Burger at The Ely Steakhouse and sing karaoke on Saturday night before "going in" on Sunday.

The Ely Steakhouse

The Girls!
Mary, Ellen, Molly, Me

Luke, Skip, Dan and Matt

Matt and Ellen singing karoke-they rocked it!

Molly and I waiting to leave Sunday morning

Molly seriously ROCKED the trip! She carried the canoe (and her pack at the same time)! I was so impressed!!

Molly portaging the canoe

Luke portaging ours! :)

It was a tough trip and we traveled (canoed and portaged) a lot--we traveled about 25 miles! Us girls were proud that they didn't take it easy on us and baby us....as it was the hardest trip the guys had been on!

We went in at Entry Point 13 (Little Sioux) and camped at Shell Lake the first two nights!

Luke swimming in Shell Lake

Shell Lake

Skip and Mary's tent on Shell Lake

On Monday we had a nice, relaxing day at our campsite. Luke and Dan took the canoe out to fish and came home with plenty for dinner! Luke caught the biggest walleye and bass he's ever caught and it was VERY tasty!

Luke and Dan's fish!

A loon on Shell Lake

On Tuesday we got back in the canoes to travel to Fat Lake. It was quite the day! We had 4 portages, most of them being long. Luke caught another walleye on the way, so we had some fish for lunch!

Luke filleting his fish for lunch

The last portage that took us to Fat Lake was an unmarked portage. That resulted in a very tough portage, including many downed trees and a path that wasn't groomed. The guys struggled to get the canoes through the woods and we were all exhausted by the time we reached Fat Lake. We had to make 2 trips on each portage, due to all the community gear (food, drinks, gear, etc). Most of the time I would have to pump after portaging and since I didn't want to hold anyone up, I would pump and Luke would head back to get the very heavy food bag!

Fat Lake only has one campsite, and it was open when we got there (at 7pm). Ellen and I canoed over to claim the campsite and then shuttled some gear back and forth to help ease the load for everyone else.  We all scrambled to get the campsite set up before dark, but we were all just glad to be done traveling for the day!

Matt, Ellen, Dan, Molly, Me, Luke, Skip and Mary!

There were 2 very large snapping turtles that visited us at our campsite. I got this picture and others took even better pictures, which I'll try to post, if I can get them on my computer.

I was a little nervous about how I was going to pump in the woods for a week, but it worked out just fine. It was a bit of a hassle, especially dumping the milk. We didn't want to dump it right by our campsite, as we didn't want to attract bears or any other anmials. Luke was so helpful and usually took the milk to dump it at night, so I didn't have to wander out in the dark by myself! This picture was taken  on Wednesday. Luke and I took a day trip to a lake near Fat Lake. We had such a fun day together! We canoed, fished, had lunch and just enjoyed some one on one time!

Pumping in the woods

Our Day trip to Eugene Lake

We enjoyed some beautiful scenery. The stars were bright at night and the clouds and sun were beautiful!

Thursday we tried to get as close to the take out point as possible, so we could get out at a decent time on Friday. We had another long day of traveling and a lot of canoeing. Unfortunately, it was a bit windy, so we had to paddle pretty hard into the wind. We didn't make it quite as far as we would have liked, so we ended up camping at a campsite between two lakes. It was on a cliff with a waterfall.....so the view wasn't so bad!

This is a picture of Luke and I down by the river from our last campsite!

We all agreed that we worked very hard and it wasn't an easy trip at all.....but it was fun and full of wonderful memories. If I get other pictures, I'll try to post them!

Nana and Papa's House and the Fair

Last Saturday (8/18/12) Luke and I left for the Boundary Waters, which meant Bishop and Nora got to go to Owatonna to Nana and Papa's house!!  Madelyn was already in Owatonna with Nana and Papa, so Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan picked up Bishop and Nora on their way down! Bishop was SO excited to ride with them and to go to Nana and Papa's house. He'd been talking a lot lately about all the toys at Nana and Papa's house (and the golf balls too)! He was also excited to go back to the fair to get more cotton candy!

The kids all had a great time at the fair and my mom commented to me more than once about how great all 3 kids did! I'm sure they were LOVING their time together! :)

Eating a red icee!

Bishop and Nora spent the night there Saturday night and Sunday morning Bishop went to the store to get donuts with Papa. Papa let him pick out his own donut, so he picked the biggest one he could find...a long john! :) 

I absolutely LOVE this picture--Bishop and Papa are such good buds, I love it!

Best Buds!

This next picture looks JUST like Shelly, when she was that age! I can't get over how much Madelyn looks like Shelly!! She's in control of the remote, watch out! :) Poor girl had pink eye and croup earlier in the week, but I think she was feeling better by the weekend!

Sweet Sweet Madelyn!

Nora eating rice cereal at Nana and Papa's! She loves her food! So far she enjoys sweet potatoes and Squash and Sweet corn the best. She's not the biggest fan of the applesauce/oatmeal/cinnamon mix.

Eating Rice Cereal

Such a cutie sitting up!

It appears Nora had a great time with Nana and Papa too, as she fell asleep on the floor!!

Thanks mom and dad for watching the kids while we were gone! They came back up to our house on Sunday night and Bishop and Nora went to daycare on Monday. Rich and Eileen picked them up at daycare on Tuesday and stayed at our house until we got home on Friday. Thank you Rich and Eileen for watching the kids.....we appreciated it so much and enjoyed our time away thanks to all of you!

Nephew!!!

I am beyond excited to be an Auntie again!!!!! Shelly and Ryan are expecting a baby boy in January and I couldn't be more happy!! It's perfect! I have a niece and I will soon have a nephew!!  Boys are so fun (girls are too), but I'm just so excited for Shelly and Ryan to have one of each!

Shelly and Ryan are such wonderful parents and their baby boy is so lucky to have them! Madelyn has been SO good to Nora and I know she'll be a wonderful big sister too! They'll only be 20 months apart, so they'll be close in age, which I love!

Before we found out what they were having I asked Bishop if he wanted a boy cousin or a girl cousin.....his response was "a lady"! :) I think he'll be pretty excited to have another boy around to play with. All 4 cousins will be less than 3 years apart, I absolutely love it!

Congrats Shelly, Ryan and Madelyn!! We love you and can't wait to meet Baby Boy Bormann!!!

Garage

Our garage project is underway! The garage came down on Wednesday and the cement was poured on Friday. Bishop has been mesmerized with the workers, back hoes, bobcats and workers! It looks very different already and will look even more different when it's up!

Before

Coming down!

It's down!

Pouring the cement

Looking out our back door

Looking at the back of our house!

We'll lose some lawn, but we're excited to have a nice big garage that we can both park in and get all our strollers and "stuff" in!

Friday night at SeSalt

We spent our Friday night at SeSalt tonight! The line was long because it was a beautiful night, but that just meant that Bishop got to eat an icecream cone while we waited! :)

Nora having Sweet Potatoes for dinner, while listening to the music. 

Bishop wiping up Nora's face (he insisted)!

Kisses!

Playing in the tree!

SCFF

I love the Steele County Free Fair (SCFF) and always have! I have such fond memories going as a kid and especially in Jr High and High School. So, since Luke was getting home late Tuesday night I decided to drive down after work with the kids for dinner. It was a quick trip and maybe not one of my best ideas, as Nora had her 6 month appointment that day and we found out she has an ear infection (so the drive home was a challenge).

Regardless, we had a great time!

Bishop with his BLUE cotton candy and Nora enjoying all the new sights and sounds of the fair!

Eating a malt with Nana and Papa!

We left Owatonna around 7:45 and I was thinking both kids would sleep on the way home.....NOPE! Bishop never fell asleep (he was up past 9 that night) and Nora was crying half way home. I stopped at the rest stop before Northfield to take Nora out to burp her, and she stopped crying.....and then Bishop had to go potty. He wasn't wearing shoes because he was in his PJs, so I carried him into the bathroom on my hip (while carrying Nora in her carseat), while carrying my purse because I was convinced the one time I left it in my car would be the time someone broke in to steal it! What a sight that was!!

However, I was able to enjoy a pronto pup, cheese curds (my mom's Cindy Nachos) and some fresh squeezed lemonade! I wish I would have had more time at the fair, but I'm glad I was able to go.

Nora's 6 months old!

Wow! Nora is 6 months old already!! She turned 6 months old on Saturday, August 11th. I distinctly remember when Bishop was 6 months old (as we had to move out of our house for 3 weeks due to work they were doing and it was a very stressful time)! Needless to say, the past six months have FLOWN by!!

She had her 6 month appointment on Tuesday. Here's what we found out:

Nora is:

16lb 4 oz (55%)

26 1/4in (68%)

Head: 43.4cm (74%)

She is developing right on track.

•  She rolls from front to back and back to front.
• She started eating rice cereal and sweet potatoes and she loves them! 
• She can sit with support and grasps many of her toys 
• She laughs, giggles and smiles all the time! She is such a happy girl!

Unfortunately we also learned she has a double ear infection!! I feel horrible, as I suspected she wasn't feeling 100% about a week ago, but she continued to be happy--she just didn't sleep as well....we now know why! Poor girl! It's her 2nd ear infection in about 6 weeks, which makes me a little concerned, especially since it's summer and she doesn't have any teeth coming in. (Bishop's 2 1/2 years old and has had 2 ear infections).

My Happy 6 month old!

Such a big girl!

This morning when I went to get her out of her crib she was laying face down, perpendicular in the crib...with her feet sticking out of the crib! She didn't seem to mind it at all (she wasn't crying or fussing at all!)

Nora, you are such a joy! I love you so much! You are a beautiful baby girl with a beautiful smile!!

Reading to Nora

One morning before school Bishop read That's Not My Bear to Nora. It was very cute. He would lift her hand so she could feel each of the pages and she seemed very interested and enjoyed it just as much! It made me so happy! Bishop tells me that he'll take care of Nora forever....melts my heart!