Photobooks

As some of you may have noticed I am really bad about updating photos on facebook.  Sure I add a photo here and there, enough to wet your palate and then I don't post any new ones for a while.  This is not because I do not want to share my kids, part of it is simply logistics.  I do not have a smart phone, so to put more photos up I have to take the card out of the camera and put it in my computer and then put the photos on my computer and then upload them into facebook.  Although I realize I am not the only one with this particular problem, I will say my toddler who likes to try to use my computer does not make this task easy.  So normally when I have time to use my computer I am busy getting work done for Wittenberg Academy, the online school I teach German for.  They are paying me to teach, no one is paying me to upload photos, so they win my free time on the computer.

Something I am reasonable at though is making photobooks.  This seems to be shaping up to be my summer hobby.  I really do enjoy making photo books, it is way more interesting than uploading photos onto facebook to me!  So if you want to see photos of the kids, the best way to do it is to look at my blog to see if I posted some recently (I'm trying to get into the habit of writing a new post once a week - I have a future post to write about a website I am using to help me in that) or just ask me when you see me in person.  I would be happy to bring along photobooks to show you!  Though remember, the last time I made photo books was last summer and the ones I am working on now are not yet complete and ordered.  However I will post the photobook I made for our trip to the zoo, that I wrote about last week.  Yeah I know, more of the same photos, but hey, they are pretty recent photos and pretty darn cute ones too!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

A Trip to the Zoo

My husband had some guard training he had to do for 8 days during the first part of June.  Just before he left for it I was looking at the calendar and realized that the weekend he was to come home was our best shot at going to the Henry Doorly Zoo as a family this summer.  So instead of him driving home right away we planned to meet him in Omaha the evening he was off of drill and then spend the next day at the zoo.

Not only is the Henry Doorly Zoo one of the best zoos in the country, it is the zoo that I frequented as a child.  My Grandparents always took us Grandkids to the zoo when we visited, so I have lots of fond memories of the zoo as a child and could not wait to start sharing that with my children.  This trip to the zoo was much more for Samuel than for Ruth, but they both seemed to have an enjoyable day!

Samuel and Daddy checking out the animals in the Jungle.

Exploring some vines!

Taking a food break.

Ruth had fun riding in the stroller or riding on Mom's back.

Of course we took turns pushing the kids!

Rhino Butt!

Finding the animals.

Cool globe in water that you could see your reflection in.

This water bottle tastes yummy!

Desert Dome Time!

I like to play in the sand!

Ben's obligatory cactus-butt photo.

Samuel LOVED the aquarium, best part for him!

We even got to seem them cleaning the tunnel.

Shark!

Ben's fantastic jelly fish photo.

Bye bye zoo!  We'll come again soon!

Life with 2 (Mostly) Happy Kids Aged 2 and Under

Life has become much happier in our household, with many thanks towards Ruth's much more content attitude.  In fact over the last month or so I have found that I actually have to remind myself that I can take Ruth places.  When she was so fussy all the time I just couldn't bear the thought of having her scream the entire time we were out.  That meant that no matter how appealing trips to the library or shopping (or the parks as the weather got better) sounded, I had no desire to drag a screaming infant with me.

So now our weeks are filled with trips to the library, walks to the park and fearless trips shopping.  I say fearless because despite having a fussy baby I still sometimes had to go shop and that was just no fun.  Now all these activities are generally fun (other than the expected problems that arise when you have a 9 months old and a 2 year old).

We try to go to the library 2-3 times a week and with their summer programming starting soon, that very well might become more frequent.  On some of the really hot days we've already had I have had no desire to sit at a park and roast with them, so a pre-naptime trip the library is just about perfect.  Then we often round out the evenings with walks around the block, I might wear Ruth or we might push her, while Samuel roams the sidewalks looking for anthills to destroy.

Trips to the park generally involve me trying to run.  I say trying to run because I have exercise induced asthma and have barely ran since before Samuel was born, so I am working from square zero.  That means I run as much as I feel able to without my lungs exploding and walk the rest.  I try to at least keep my walking pace up at least and so far my running will not be winning me any trophies, except for maybe a good effort one.

Lately it has just been quite entertaining to watch those two kids interact.  Samuel adores his sister and she in turn adores him.  Of course with him being 2, their playing together sometimes involves things that end with Ruth crying...  That's just how it goes!  But also with Samuel being 2 things sometimes end with him scraping his knee, so at least I know he isn't just causing trouble for his sister!

It has also been fun to watch their very different personalities and paths of development unfold.  For example, from the first day we started Samuel on solids (and we started earlier than I intended to just because he seemed eager for them) he would devour almost everything in his path.  He has always loved to eat.  Ruth on the other hand refused to eat solids for quite a while.  She simply had no interest and would only fuss about us trying to feed her if we persisted and didn't take her hint.  Well, last week I tried to feed her solids again and this time, she loved it!  Over the last week we have been slowly increasing the amount and types of food we feed her.  So far she loves butternut squash and bananas and really loves to self-feed (something Samuel outright refused to do until after his smash cake).

Ruth also got her first two teeth mid-May at about 8.5 months old.  She'll be 9 months old tomorrow, so it is about time she got teeth and started eating solids!  :-)

Our family with Grandma at a cousin's wedding in Nebraska.