Happy Friday!

Who doesn’t smile when they see a naked baby?!

Daddy-Man is off on a “Man Trip” this weekend to the wilderness of Colorado, we we are finding fun on our own.  Off to the Farmer’s Market, petting zoo, water park, and library!  Wish me LUCK!

It’s like Christmas in July!

I am obsessed with my CSA. 

For those that are not familiar with CSAs or Co-ops, it is a “farming group” that I have joined that we pay for fresh, ORGANIC produce every week to be delivered to our home.  And it is FABULOUS! I just let them choose what they want to bring based on what is fresh/seasonal, which is the healthiest way to eat.  My sister in law Heather turned me on to this concept – THANK YOU!!!

I just had to give them a shout-out!  For someone who is doing WeightWatchers to lose this “Emma weight” (and who am I kidding, I’m sure there is some Jack weight, Miami weight, beer/nachos weight…), it has been fabulous and SO COST EFFECTIVE! 

It is on our doorstep when we wake up on Thursday mornings and it is SO FUN (here is my nerdy side) to open up my box and see what they have brought for the week.  Here is this week’s bounty – maybe I will make this an every-Thursday post just to amuse myself?  :)

-5 ears corn- 2 heads cabbage - 1 head romaine lettuce -  1 head butter lettuce – 2 bunches bananas – 1 HUGE crenshaw melon (like a cross between a canteloupe and honeydew) – 6 peaches – 1 head cauliflower – 1 bunch swiss chard – 1 bunch celery – 4 beets (mom, I wish I could send these to you!) – 3 navel oranges – 1 cucumber – and 2 big zucchini!

…And all for just THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS!!!!

It is making dinner really fun for me to prepare and great for Jack to try different veggies…the kid has vary a food he doesn’t like, but sometimes getting greens into his diet is challenging other than broccoli and peas.

And Scott commented the other day “I think I had 6 pieces of fruit today”  - GOOD STUFF!  It makes me feel like a better Mommy to be able to give my family (even Emma since she gets the nutrients eventually!) freshness every day and teach them how to start good eating habits.

And I am now on the hunt on how to make those beets not taste like DIRT – any suggestions???

**For anyone in the Chicagoland area that is interested – here is the link: www.tcforganics.net

**For a list of CSA’s in your area:  www.localharvest.org

Summer is for getting dirty

…and then washing off in the tub TOGETHER! 

 

Jack was so excited when we brought Emmy into the tub with him, and she was so smiley and laughing to watch him splash around.  More fun to come…but will I be spending all of my time drying off my bathroom?  Probably, but totally worth it for those precious smiles of joy!

And look who is a BIG GIRL NOW!

Bookworm!

Class of 2032

 

It is Destiny…

Happy Weekend!  It’s a HOT one up here – to the beach we go!

But WHY, Mommy?

It has happened.

The “WHY” stage. 

“Why does Daddy have to go to work, Mom?”  - “Why do I need to eat my cauliflower?” - “Why are we in a hurry?” - “Why can’t I pee on the floor?”

Jack is a gabber.  The child has always been very verbal (he must get this from his chatty mother :-) ), but it has turned into a full-blown talk show every day.  Poor Katie – she bears the brunt of it, and is great at answering all of his questions.  For example – the boys just got home from a 12 hour trip to Pennsylvania.  Most kids want to watch the DVD player, whine about the length, get antsy.  What did Jack do?  TALKED.  To his Grandma Walti. For 10 HOURS STRAIGHT.  She said that is was hilarious, but exhausting!  :-)  God bless her.

I love my little inquisitor and that he is so curious about life.  His favorite book series is Curious George and it totally fits! I am attempting to get video of him chattering, but whenever I do, all he wants to do is hold the Flip…

I also want to give a special shout-out to our nanny Katie who is doing a WONDERFUL job of managing 2 very active toddler boys and an infant!  Her energy and spunk amaze me every day and she truly works so hard to make every day so special for our kids – field trips to Millennium Park, special crafts, daily walks and lessons, swimming – just ask her, she can DO IT!

I think she is enjoying having a little girl to ‘nuggle’ with, too – she has become seriously obsessed with the Bjorn and I’m sure it makes her days so much easier w/ the availability of two hands!

THANK YOU KATIE-GIRL, WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Lil' Kicker!

***Miss Emma G. is practicing for her soccer debut***

(because is there anything cuter than a little girl w/ pigtails in a pink soccer jersey?)

In other news, OUR BOYS ARE HOME!!! They got in around 10pm on Sunday night and as excited as I was to see Jack (ahem, and my lovely husband), who was J more concerned about? Emmy girl - "WHERE is my sister? I want to hold my sister...Oh, Emmy, I missed you", hugging her, kissing her...ON and ON. It was really sweet - he seriously loves his sister bear (for now, at least!). They had a wonderful week together; One that I am sure that Scott will remember.

Off to another busy week getting back in the swing of things for Jack and more growing and learning for Emma - she currently wants to either stand and/or sit up like a big girl - TIME FOR THE BUMBO and the EXERSAUCER!!!

Uncle Scotty's Beach Song

As I wrote before, the few weeks before I returned to work, we spent a lot of time up at Scott's parents home and part of this time, our niece Lily and nephew Sam were also in town. The kids had a blast playing together, but they are also at the age (Lily is 5 and the boys are 2), where they don't ALWAYS play nice.

One day, Scott and I had all 4 kids to ourselves and it happened to be one of those "trying" days. Scott had about reached his limit of patience around 4:00, so we decided to go to the local lake and let the kids get out some energy. They were all running around like crazies and not listening about getting packed up and in the cars, so he came up with "Uncle Scotty's Beach Song" as shown on the below video. It was a big hit, and they have since asked for it several times since!

**Turn up the volume**

**TMI - I just peed my pants while watching this over again. Especially the end as they are running out the door...

Enjoy.

Like Brother, Like Sister

I am really trying hard not to compare my kids…but it has already started.  I find myself telling Scott “Oh, that is just want Jack did” or “Jack didn’t do this at this age…”  They are their own individual persons and each special in different ways – I do not want them to grow up comparing themselves to each other or even thinking that they should be concerned with what others are doing and that it is an appropriate behavior…But it is HARD not to benchmark your 2nd kid after the 1st!

SO…on that note, we have this photo of Jack at 3 1/2 months hanging in our hallway and it is one of my favorites of him at this stage:

And I just so happened to take the following photo of Emma last week (she is 3 months):

See!  It is SO HARD not to compare the two, but they are SO alike!  I think Em is more “feminine” looking, but they are no doubt BROTHER and SISTER!  Poor girl…looks like Jack won the prize of long eyelashes – not fair to be wasted on a boy!  :-)

Just an interesting observation…

Have a great weekend – I am SO EXCITED to have my boys home tomorrow night!  Yippee!!!

Hump Day Laughs

We hope this helps get you through your Wednesday!

Emma girl and I are on our own this week, as Jack and Scott left last Friday for our family's PA lakehouse. (I obviously could not go with being back to work and where I am, E has to be!) Scott said that they are having a great time, and Jack is absolutely exhausted at night with all the watersports. The house is so quiet without Jack - I have talked to him several times, and this is the longest that I have been without my baby - I get teary-eyed just thinking about it and can't wait for my crazy to come home!!! He is truly my little assistant...but I am so glad that Scott gets to spend some alone time with his son.

We miss our guys, but we are having some girlie fun of our own! Farmer's Market, shopping, sushi, walks, and a Girls Night with Auntie Courtney and Auntie Jane tonight!

Emma Grace is 3 months old!

Time is flying!! 

Our little gal is 3 months old this week and is discovering so many new things! 

Emma continues to be an AMAZING baby – I don’t want to toot her horn – but she is seriously SO LOW KEY.  Just goes along with whatever we are doing, let’s me know when she is hungry (eating 5 oz about every 2 1/2 hours now), rubs her eyes when she is tired (taking 3-4 45min/1hour naps a day) and watches what is going on! I was telling Katie this morning that my jaw is sore from gritting my teeth from just loving on her so much this weekend – such a cutie!

She had a great first week with Katie – ate well from the bottle, slept like a champ, and started to laugh at Katie and the boys.  They are getting used to having her around and it is good practice for Dylan w/ his new sibling to arrive in September.

Below are some of Emma G’s favorite things and happenings at 3 months old! 

 loves her sophie giraffe – starting to grab onto things and put them INSTANTLY in her mouth!

She also likes playing with her froggy lovie – likes to nibble on her face!

crazy hair – let’s hope this goes down in the next few years…but it is turning blonder…

  Rolling over!  She thinks it is so funny and does it whenever you put her on her belly – still really enjoys “tummy time”

Starting to kick and interact with her hanging toys – loves this monkey one

Our kids love the toys from the ‘70s!  Thanks, Ama!

Having fun during bathtime!

Sibling Love!!

Happy 3 month Birthday, Sweet Girl!!

Working Mom Guilt

My first week back to work is in the books! We have started to get our morning routine down and the kids did great!  It is ALL ABOUT BEING ORGANIZED!!!  Jack actually did not throw one fit about waking up at 7:00 (he is used to 8:30am for the past 3 months) and has been great with showing Emmy the ropes.  I think he is actually excited to be back on a schedule with Katie and loves having his little sis by his side.  We are going to split the days between the Korbmacher’s and our home, so our kids will actually just be at our house for 2-3 of the days each week for the rest of the summer until we figure it all out, which will be GREAT! 

Emma is doing super!  She has really taken to Katie and is taking the bottle well – I am REALLY hoping that I can pump enough to not need to supplement, but we’ll see how my body responds to the change.  She loves to nurse, so I feel guilty about not being there, but I guess she’s got to learn about disappointment sometime, right?  :-)  I think all Mommies (working, SAHM, or WAHM) experience some kind of guilt – are we there enough, do they “need us”, are we doing the right things, teaching the right things, feeding the right things, etc…I try to remember that I personally feel that I am able to give more to them when we are together BECAUSE I am also satisfied professionally.  It works for our family and I know they are in great hands and are happy during the day, which makes it SO MUCH EASIER.

Scott and Jack are leaving tonight for our family’s PA lakehouse for all of next week – AHHH!  What will we do without our boys?  Shopping, manicures, “Bethenny’s Getting Married” episodes… Ha!  I will miss them, but glad that they get to do this father/son adventure!

I will leave you with a pretty pic of our smiley gal!  Love her!

A Fun Fourth

We were up north again for the 4th and had a great time…Here is our weekend in photos!

Thanks for the festive outfits, Grammy! Jack and Emma had a holiday party with Katie and got all dressed up…

First time wearing her cutie swimsuit!

I think Emma likes Lake Minear!

  Jack was in the water the entire weekend – the kid is a FISH! (and check out Daddy’s hot bod!  :-) )

Happy 4th!  I love my outfit and the HUGE bow, Auntie Krista!

A fun family weekend!

Cousins enjoying Bomb Pops!

Family pics @ the Libertyville fireworks spectacular

Jack loves his Ama…

And Emmy loves watching the show w/ her Pop (she was mesmerized)…Meanwhile check out Jack “protecting his eyes” below!

It was a great weekend full of food, family, and fun! 

Now Mommy is back to work and the “real world” – more on that later!  :-)

Love This...

We went to see Scott play softball the other day and these melted my heart...

watching Daddy up to bat...

Cute Father's Day Pics

WE LOVE OUR DADDY-MAN!

New saying from Jack "Daddy, you are the best Dad and I am the best son."

Yep - that sums it up! :-)