Dede and Kenna

"Dede" and "Kenna" (what they call each other...at least Dede is the best I can come up with from listening to Makenna call for her big brother) are the best of friends. They play so nice with each other, and they are always wondering where the other is when they don't see their sibling the minute they get up in the morning or after naps, or what ever, and most of all they love each other My heart is filled with so much joy to see my 2 little ones playing together. I was so worried about having two children so close in age, but it has brought so much joy AND help to us than I could have ever imagined. Its so nice how they can play nice with each other so I can get some thing done. With that said we have many times where they fight and do not get a long, but I'd say more often than not they are playing with each other....even if it ends up getting too rough and tears are shed in the end. Makenna has learned how to hold her own and now knows how to steal toys away from Denver. It won't be long and if he decides to bop her one I expect to see her bopping him right back! Here's some pictures of me sweet little "Dede" and "Kenna" playing the beginning of August!

Sibling Love

I love watching my babies interacting together, especially when they don't know I'm watching.  They both love each other so much.  One of my favorite things is at bed time. Makenna typically goes to bed first and before she goes to bed she has to get all of her good night kisses. When I put her down at Denver level to get a kiss she snuggles her head into him and smiles and he giggles! I love it! Denver watches out for Makenna and if she's crying he has to go check on her or come and tell me that some thing is wrong. Makenna has to be where ever Denver is and doing whatever he is doing. Thus she has become mobile! Makenna now crawls all over the place and is working very hard on walking. She walks very well pushing something, putting her hand on a wall or whatever is close for her to help her if she looses her balance, or by hanging onto some one's hand (or hands). She has taken several steps, probably the most being 4 at a time, but once she realizes she's doing it on her own she plops herself to the ground. Denver's been sharing his toys with Makenna which has been hard, but he's adjusting quite well. Makenna loves Denver's 4 wheeler and has learned how to go forwards and backwards. Both of the kids love to be outside, so we spend as much of our time outside as we can and have really enjoyed the nice weather lately. Our bike rides to the park to play have begun and if Denver had his way they would take place every night and if Makenna could talk she would probably be chiming in with him.  Her are some pictures of the sibling love my babies share!

Playing Farm

Being Silly

Enjoying the outdoors.

I'm going to get you with a snowball Mom!

And here it comes! (He got me!)

Practicing Standing

Blowing Bubbles!

Both of the kids love this...Denver loves to chase them and Makenna watches him and laughs.

I love you big brother!

Both love to swing!

I can get any where with this!

Where has 5 months gone?

Makenna was 5 months old on October 5th!  I can't believe how fast the time has gone.  I thought time went fast with Denver....it goes twice as fast when you have two!

Here are a few things that have changed since Makenna's 4 month post:

-started eating cereal (Makenna does okay with this, but has not mastered it yet....we're still trying to learn to be consistent on feeding her cereal...when we're busy it's the first thing that goes)

-sits up on own (she still tips over at times, but can hold herself up for quite some time)

-ROLLS OVER (Finally Makenna rolled over! I think it was last week (it's on her baby calendar) that I was complaining to my mom that she hasn't ever really attempted to roll over and then I put her on the floor on her tummy and it was like she heard me and almost immediately rolled!)

-had her first taste of applesauce (applesauce is one of Denver's favorites and so one night when he  was eating it we let Makenna have a little taste...she wasn't sure what to think she made quite the face)
   
-passes toys from one hand to the other (Makenna loves to play with all sorts of things and is now always trying to reach out of her bumbo seat for ANYTHING that looks like it might be fun)
   
-there might be more, but that's all I can think of right now

Here are some 5 month pictures of our little princess!

Waltner Family Camping Trip 2009

We had our annual Waltner family camping trip the last weekend in June this year. We went to Lake Vermillion and stayed Sunday through Tuesday. Does anyone know how much work it is or how much space it takes to pack up a 7 week old and a 19 month old!? Let's just say the pickup was packed full (I almost didn't leave room for Makenna!) and we had Evan's Grandpa's (thanks Grandpa Poots for letting us borrow it!) fishing boat and there was stuff in the boat too! We had a great time relaxing and spending time with family. Denver thought it was great to have so many different people to play with including his only 1st cousin Jacob!!

Playing with Jacob

These 2 had a blast on these pink inflatables that Great Aunt Carolyn got at a rummage sale. Yes, they're supposed to be for the water, but these 2 little ones sat on them, bounced on them, and played on them!

Our Group

We spent lots of time sitting around just visiting with each other and catching up on every one's lives. It's so nice to have some time like this as we don't get together as a big family often enough to be able to stay up-to-date on what every one's been doing.

Boys in the Pool

The little cousins had fun splashing in the pool. We weren't close to a beach so we had a little pool for the boys to play in so they could have some "water action" without having to go all the way to the lake. It's a lot of work to take 2 little ones down to the beach and this made it a lot easier!

Splashing is fun!

Even Grandma had some fun in the water with them! :)

There is NEVER a shortage of food! We split up the meals so each family is in charge of a meal and we are never short on food! We plan camping AROUND our meals! Ha, ha! Here's my Mom and Jeff working on the kabobs that Jeff and Kim brought for their meal. All of the food and snacks were delicious! Hair cut time! Yes, we even made time for a hair cut for Denver and my Dad while we were camping. Thanks a ton Kim...we loved it, he looked super cute, as always! Camp Fires We always have a camp fire every evening. It's so much fun sitting around the fire, making smores (this year we added a twist to the smores and made some of them with peanut butter cups...yummy! Thanks Shannon!), and telling stories. Angie's bear story just may have to become an annual thing as well as it was told for the 2nd time this year! She had a friend along this time though so she had proof she didn't make it up! :)

Our last day with the whole group there we had a tournament. We broke up into teams of 2 and then played bean bags, monkey balls (ladder ball, or whatever you call it), and bocce ball. This was a lot of fun, and ironically Evan and Kim were a team, and Jeff and I were a team, and Evan and Kim won and Jeff and I got 2nd!