sprinkler time

We are at my sister-in-law's house this weekend and she suggested putting the sprinkler out for Isaiah to play in. He's not a huge fan of water, but seemed to be okay with running through the sprinkler. So cute and fun to watch!!

Superior Hiking Trail

The plan was that on Father's Day we were going to go on this beautiful hike on a 3.2 mile section of the Superior Hiking Trail. However, because we have kids, things did not go as planned (plus the weather was crummy). So, needless to say, we didn't get our hike in.

So, since Nathan and I are both off this summer, we woke up one morning and decided that today was the day we were going to attempt our hike. It ended up going quite smoothly and was beautiful. It was a bit of an adventure due to the bear and deer tracks we saw. Plus, moments after going under a railroad track, a small train came overhead and was fun to see. It was wonderful taking advantage of such a beautiful day in nature. We love the fact that there are so many parks and trails in the middle of the city.

The boys seemed to have fun too, and didn't have to work too hard on the hike! :)

Picnic time

Since we've had such a cold summer; we've tried to be outside as much as possible and that includes meal times too! Here are some photos from our most recent picnic outing.

Cabin fun

Here are a few more photos from our last day at the cabin. It was beautiful...if only we could have had a week with weather like it was on our last day! Oh well, we still had a wonderful time relaxing and with family.

Fun at the Cabin

We've spent the week up at Lake Winnie with Nathan's family. It's been quite rainy and windy throughout the week, which has caused many card games, reading and relaxing; a nice way to spend a vacation. However, sunshine is always nice, too! Yesterday, the sun finally came out at 4 PM and we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening outside. So, we finally got to go on "Papa's boat" that Isaiah was so excited about. Here are some pics from our week together.

6 weeks old

Simon is already 6 weeks old! He is weighing in at almost 11 lbs; clearly he's growing quite well!! He's just starting to give us "real" smiles, which just melt our heart! Isaiah continues to give lots of (s)mooches and hugs and now enjoys saying "Little Broder (brother)". Quite sweet.

Simon cuddling with his new quilt that Nana Langer made. You can see both sides of it here...top side is shown on the middle picture and the bottom side shown on the picture on the bottom.

Quirky kid

So, every kid has their quirks, right? Isaiah's quirk happens to be that he loves his bike helmet! Pretty funny as he requests to wear his helmet around the house, while eating and while taking a nap (ouch, my neck hurts just thinking about it!). No wonder kids make us laugh so much!!


Here Isaiah is riding his bike that his Aunts Stacey and Linda gave him for his birthday. It's this neat bike that doesn't have pedals; it's supposed to help kids with their balance so they can skip training wheels. Isaiah loves it!

P.S. How could we have forgotten his helmet!?

First Bath

It’s funny how busy things are with two kids! We finally got around to giving Simon a full-fledged bath instead of a sponge bath. He actually loved it. I remember pictures from Isaiah’s first bath and they are all of him crying. The pictures we have of Simon are quite sweet. I wonder if this means that Simon will like the water more than Isaiah?

Life with Simon

At three days old, Simon was beginning to gain some of his weight back. Here is our doula, Caralee, weighing Simon at our house…he weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. At our one week check up he was up to 7 lbs. 12 oz. So, his mama milk is helping him grow! He is a good eater and sleeper…must take after his daddy! ;) Isaiah continues to love him with lots of smooches and hugs and of course cuddles! And, occasionally Isaiah is already looking for a playmate to play ball with.

Adapting

We are all working hard at adapting to our new life as a family of four. We have had good days and difficult days, but we are surviving and we seem to be figuring it out! I had my first outing today with both kids…to the grocery store and then on to the circle song group. It actually went pretty well and I was very proud of Isaiah and his listening and helping out. I can’t get too excited that it will be like this every time we have an outing, but I will take this on our first day out!

Even though things are busier with two kids already, we have had a lot of time around the house and to just hang out. This means, too, that we’ve been able to do all those things that we’ve always wanted time to do. Friday evening before Isaiah went to bed (and before the rainy weekend), we all went outside and planted flowers. What a lovely way to spend a Friday night as a family! Our summer is starting off wonderfully with getting things done; we’ll see what it’s like at the end of the summer!

Visitors

Despite Simon arriving early, we’ve had several wonderful visitors to meet our little guy. Nana and Papa Langer arrived separately (Papa had big fishing plans for the weekend, so he arrived Sunday night) and it actually worked out that Nana was able to stay longer because she cancelled a trip to KY because of her newest grandbaby’s arrival! She was a wonderful help getting all the baby things ready since they weren’t ready before Simon arrived! Plus, she helped re-arrange our room so Simon could room-in with us more easily.

My mom, or Nama as Isaiah calls her, arrived Sunday and stayed through Wednesday. She was wonderful with Isaiah and keeping him entertained and then holding Simon while Nathan and I got some much needed zzzz’s.

My best friend from my Jr. High days came for a quick visit too and brought us a lovely meal and hung out for the afternoon. It was great to spend time with her, enjoy her wonderful cooking and have her meet Simon.

Once our visitors left we were unsure how things would go; however, we have all been doing well and transitioning to life as a family of four. It’s been fun and challenging, but every day seems to get better and better!

Our beautiful new baby boy!

simon langer
born 5-12-11
7 lbs 14 ozs







Hello all! There was a big surprise in our house. A NEW BABY. Very exciting. Everyone is healthy and that is all we can ask for. If I could ask for more it would be sleep!

Wintertime fun!

A couple weekends ago we enjoyed some outdoor fun with sledding, a bonfire and some hot chocolate. It was fun to get outside and enjoy some fresh air after having such a cold snap. We've all been trying to be more active through the winter months with baby Langer #2 growing inside me; which means we've been doing a lot more walking of the sky walk system in Duluth. Thank goodness for such a massive sky walk system!! If we're not home on the weekends, you can probably find us there! :) It's a great place for Isaiah to run also as there aren't many distractions like when we walk at the mall.

YUMMY!!

Isaiah has become quite the little helper when it comes to baking and cooking. His favorite treat lately is smoothies; and no, it's never too cold out for a yummy berry smoothie! : ) It's even more fun when they are berries that we picked last summer! He enjoys helping to make the smoothies, but also to consume them! Our favorite is just how he enjoys them and looks when he's all done! :) Pretty funny.

Time with family

Last weekend we spent some time with Nathan's family, which meant Isaiah got some special time with his cousins too, which he LOVED!! They ran around the house, played together, played pretend and even did some baking with Nana. Who knew 3 kids under the age of 6 could run you so ragged, even with three adults around to help!? Yikes! Maybe two kiddos will be enough. :)

Nathan and I are taking our first overnight away together WITHOUT Isaiah this weekend. We leave Isaiah at Nana and Papa's tomorrow and then head out to the cities to enjoy some much needed time together as a couple before Baby Langer #2 joins our family. We have some time with friends and then a nice evening of dinner and a play at the Guthrie. Should be wonderful. I haven't spent an overnight without Isaiah before, so naturally I'm a little nervous. I'm sure it will all be wonderful, but a little tough too!

I love babies!!

Isaiah has fallen in love with his babies and every other baby he sees. Nothing makes a pregnant mom and dad more happy!! He loves pushing his baby in the stroller, feeding his baby, cuddling with her and lately he now brings her with when we run errands. It's very sweet. Lots of kisses for his baby doll, baby in mommy's tummy and the babies at day care. We'll see just how the transition to big brother goes when he can't leave his brother or sister behind like these other babies!!

Potty time?

So, Isaiah showed interest in the potty a few weeks ago and even went potty in the toilet a few times. However, after many hours of reading and playing ball while sitting on the potty without anything happening, we decided to take a few steps back. So, we have put the potty away and are back to good ole diaper changes. All the books we read seem to indicate that Isaiah is not ready. So, we've been talking more about potty and using some of the suggestions they gave. It's just hard to know if we tackle this now before baby comes, or if we wait. Hmmm.....