Us

A few photos from April and May of our family. This month the weather in Minnesota has gone from winter to spring and we are soaking up the warmer temps as much as we can. Love being able to be outside (comfortably) and I love this little family of ours! 

photo on Easter weekend outside
Izzy's ice cream

photo at the Holly Tot Lot

Mother's Day photo outside our favorite Korean restaurant

Oli is a good big brother

sibs

Jo and I. Love her, stinky face and all!

Oliver took this one!

love my little man

walking through the lilacs (or "little forest" as Oliver calls it)

accidentally color coordinated

Her & I

Me & Her

when the crab apple tree blooms
 it's my favorite time of year 

these two have something special

Chicago & Madison 2014

Still catching up on some posts... The last weekend in April we drove to Chicago for my annual conference at the Palmer House in Chicago. The drive was pretty long but the kids did ok (with me in the back again). We got lucky and had a huge room at the hotel so we were able to set up the crib on one side of the room and had two double beds on the other side. The first night I put Josie to bed while Oli and Chris got some takeout. We ate picnic style on the floor of the hotel room and then Oli and I went down to freshii (which is in the lobby of our hotel!) to get some tart frozen yogurt. It was such a simple night but so much fun! In addition to going to the conference, we had fun seeing Chicago. Such a great city! Oliver loved exploring the city ("let's go exploring", he would say), especially the fountains and bean in Millenium Park. 

A little about our short trip to Madison after the jump.

Josie 7 months

Josie turned 7 months old about a week ago on May 17. She's such a joy and overall such an easy baby. We are really blessed! The overnight sleep continues to be a bit rough, but she is still napping really well (twice a day for 1 1/2 - 2 hours). She rolls really well now and can cover quite a distance. She is sitting a lot better these days. I think any day now we'll be able to leave her without worrying about her flopping to the side or back. She loves pulling our hair, grabbing her toes, putting toys in her mouth, throwing toys on the floor, and making funny sounds. She's still not really interested in solid food although we keep exposing her to different tastes. I just finished with my semester so I'm really happy to get to spend more time with her and Oli this summer. I put Jo in the Ergo baby carrier and took her for a walk this afternoon. We try to get out for walks whenever possible now that the weather is nice. Everywhere I go people stop and say what a cute baby she is. This woman even yelled "cute baby" out of her car today. I know I'm biased as her mom, but I totally agree. The first photo is from the day she turned 7 months and the rest are pictures from her 7th month of life. Love you Jo!

And Oli at 7 months.

Roadtrip March 2014

During my spring break this year (middle of March... just now getting around to posting) I had a conference in Austin, TX to attend. Flights were really expensive so we decided to take a road trip, the first really long car trip we'd taken with both kids. The first day we drove to Kansas City, MO and then stopped and stayed with James & family for a couple days. Josie slept the first 3 hours and then cried on and off (but mostly on) for the last 3 hours. She recovered quickly when we arrived, but it was unpleasant to say the least. Over the next few stretches we figured out that she did pretty well if I sat in the back so I spent most of the trip wedged between Oli and Josie. What we do for our kids! 

Oli's driving

playing outside at a rest stop
(we were excited there was no snow on the ground!)

Our Kansas City visit was great. We ate good food (thanks for cooking for us James!), played games, and the kids played together well. We also celebrated St Patty's Day (a big holiday in the Prior household). It was a fun visit and I wish we lived closer to each other!

exploring the museum in Kansas City

Oli gets to sit in a helicopter at the museum

the toy box makes a good seat

playing outside in Kansas City

Jo is good at making faces

Molly & Josie

Oli and Til made green milkshakes on
St Patty's Day

the guys made macaroons

Seamus the leprechaun left green candies and
potatoes for the kids 

the girls (minus me since I was taking the photo)

Read about the rest of the trip after the jump.

Josie's Firsts: Teeth

First teeth - two on the bottom! We've been introducing solid food but she's not super excited about anything she's tried yet. She prefers chewing on cardboard, toys, or my hair (gross, I know).

Josie 6 months

6-month old Josie is so much fun. She's smiling, laughing, holding toys, rolling, sitting up (with some support), interacting with Oliver and with us more... I love it and love her! She has gotten 2 teeth (on the bottom) recently and that disrupted her sleep (and ours too, of course). We had several rough nights but things are a little better now. She continues to be a good napper luckily, taking 2 naps that last about 1/2 to 2 hours. She's still swaddled for naps and overnight, but has been breaking out of it a lot lately so we're going to try and wean her off the swaddle soon.

Her 6-month check-up isn't for another week so I don't know her stats, but she's now in size 3 diapers and wears mostly size 9 month or 6-12 month clothes. She likes to be carried in the Bjorn carrier and does pretty well in the double stroller next to Oli too. We've actually had some decent weather this month and gotten out on walks and to the park which is so awesome after a long winter. She tried avocado this month but wasn't a big fan. We'll probably try some more solid food again soon but she doesn't seem too interested at this point. Sorry I don't have more time to elaborate or share lots of pics, but I've been super busy with work and Chris has been filling in for a colleague at work so we're all busy and really looking forward to summer! Mostly she is awesome and we love her tons. Happy first half birthday Jo! xoxo

More photos after the jump.

Oliver 2 1/2

I wish I had more time to do regular updates on both kiddos, but for now, 1/4 year updates will have to do for Oli. Oliver turned 2 1/2 on March 20th, the spring equinox, during our roadtrip to Kansas City, MO and Austin, TX. What to say about him at this age? He is full of life! Lots of smiles and laughs and some screaming and crying too (he is 2!). He loves music and dancing, is still a picky eater, sleeps great overnight (50/50 on naps), and says the funniest things. We got him some board games (Hungry, Hungry Hippos, Candyland, and Richard Scary's Busytown) and he has started playing with those a little bit which is fun. A few weeks ago we took him out of the crib and let him sleep in the "big bed" in his room. He had been asking for awhile but since we were planning to travel (and he's outgrown the Pack n Play), we knew it was time. I'm happy to report it has been going really well! We let him pick out some new sheets on the first day so he was excited about his new red sheets. He has been doing great with it. He gets up occasionally during nap time but usually gets right back in bed. He saw his first show, Sesame Street Live, in Minneapolis recently thanks to a friend who gave us her tickets. Chris took him and they went with our friend Scott and his daughter Julia. They all had a great time!

I'm hoping to do another post on our roadtrip, but just a few notes here about Oli. He did great overall. He was really good in the car (unfortunately Josie wasn't as happy about the car) and slept really well. I was even able to take him from the car and lay him in a new bed a few times and he went right back to sleep! He had a blast playing with his cousins Molly and Matilda and our friend Carly's daughter Miriam. He loved being outside enjoying the warmer weather (as did well). He had a few meltdowns as usual, but overall was a happy traveler. Overall this is a super fun age. He's energetic, funny and sweet, giving Chris, Josie and I hugs and kisses daily. Love you sweet pea! Happy 2 1/2!

his smile is the best
(and those eyebrows too!)

Lots more pictures of Oli from the last 3 months after the jump.