Picture In Portrait 5x7 folded card
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
Photo Book
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Sunday, June 17, 2012
Alex's Art Work
Our baby is super talented, artistic and advanced. He's quite the artist. Our daycare provider Jeanne helped Alex create some artwork for Mother's Day and Father's Day.
My Mother's Day wall hanging with Alex's foot prints.
Alex's paper weight. Jeanne said that Alex helped pick out the rocks for Daddy's gift.
My Mother's Day wall hanging with Alex's foot prints.
Alex's paper weight. Jeanne said that Alex helped pick out the rocks for Daddy's gift.
Happy Father's Day
Plan A: Go biking
Problem: Although we have a pull-behind bike trailer for Alex, he's too little to sit in it. We may be able to get the car seat in it, but Mike thinks we need some bungie cords.
Plan B: Check out the pool
Problem: We heard that one of the pools has a great zero depth area for little ones and since the weather has been so hot, we thought that might be fun to check out. Despite the fact that it was supposed to be sunny all day, by the time Alex woke up from his nap, it was pouring.
Plan C: Go get some street vender food at Rochesterfest
Problem: Street vendors don't open until Monday.
Plan D: Go to Chesters for dinner on the patio
It's good to be flexible.
When Alex grabbed at the lemon on Mike's Honeyweis, Mike thought he would see what Alex thought of it.
Problem: Although we have a pull-behind bike trailer for Alex, he's too little to sit in it. We may be able to get the car seat in it, but Mike thinks we need some bungie cords.
Plan B: Check out the pool
Problem: We heard that one of the pools has a great zero depth area for little ones and since the weather has been so hot, we thought that might be fun to check out. Despite the fact that it was supposed to be sunny all day, by the time Alex woke up from his nap, it was pouring.
Plan C: Go get some street vender food at Rochesterfest
Problem: Street vendors don't open until Monday.
Plan D: Go to Chesters for dinner on the patio
It's good to be flexible.
When Alex grabbed at the lemon on Mike's Honeyweis, Mike thought he would see what Alex thought of it.
Stroller Class with Mom
While I was expecting Alex, I participated in an awesome program through our Mayo Clinic healthy living center called Mission Motherhood. We met 2 nights per week for 10 weeks. One night was an educational topic such as Nutrition, Exercise Guidelines, Post-Partum Depression, Returning to Exercise Post Deliver, etc... And the other night was a workout such as yoga, the pool, strength training, etc... The exercise guidelines are the same for pregnant women as for any other healthy person - you should engage in moderate activity at least 30 minutes per day most days of the week. But there are some adjustments to the type of activity. There is a lot of conflicting information out on the web about what is okay or not okay during pregnancy. The class was designed by Jamie one of the Wellness Coordinators with a background in physiology who has 2 small children herself and another colleague Tiffany. She guided us through appropriate activities. I learned a lot (way more than in the 6 week prenatal class). I met a whole bunch of other moms with similar due dates. Stayed active - in fact Jamie made us work really hard! And I had a ton of fun.
Jamie and Tiffany also created a Stroller Fitness class designed for moms with babies/toddlers. We meet on Saturday mornings in a park near our house to work out. We start out with our little ones in the stroller and do lunges, squats, high knees, walking/jogging. Then we move to the grass and get the kids out of the strollers and work on more strength and cardio. We do push-ups, planks, mountain climbers, rows, sit ups - all while incorporating the little ones into the workout.
Here is Alex at home doing leg lifts like Mommy does at Stroller Class.
Alex has been coming with me. He and I both enjoy it. Last time he "helped" me with my sit-ups and leg lifts. Mostly he drooled on me. He finds it entertaining to see the mommies doing jumping jacks.
I don't have many pictures of the class as I am usually too busy working out! But here are a couple of him in the stroller. The first one is from early May when it was cooler. Alex is wearing a warm up pants and matching jacket. They are navy and yellow. Jill and Caroline are also in the class. Jill loved this outfit because it was Michigan colors. The second picture is from June 9th.
Jamie and Tiffany also created a Stroller Fitness class designed for moms with babies/toddlers. We meet on Saturday mornings in a park near our house to work out. We start out with our little ones in the stroller and do lunges, squats, high knees, walking/jogging. Then we move to the grass and get the kids out of the strollers and work on more strength and cardio. We do push-ups, planks, mountain climbers, rows, sit ups - all while incorporating the little ones into the workout.
Here is Alex at home doing leg lifts like Mommy does at Stroller Class.
Alex has been coming with me. He and I both enjoy it. Last time he "helped" me with my sit-ups and leg lifts. Mostly he drooled on me. He finds it entertaining to see the mommies doing jumping jacks.
I don't have many pictures of the class as I am usually too busy working out! But here are a couple of him in the stroller. The first one is from early May when it was cooler. Alex is wearing a warm up pants and matching jacket. They are navy and yellow. Jill and Caroline are also in the class. Jill loved this outfit because it was Michigan colors. The second picture is from June 9th.
Doing new things all the time.
Alex has so many new tricks all the time. He seems to be changing all the time. Maybe its because we had such an extended newborn phase, but it seems as if his development is so fast. Some of the new things he does...
Rolls over from his back to his tummy.
He's getting stronger with lots of control over his head, shoulders, and back. However, he doesn't really like being on his tummy and hasn't figured out yet how to roll the other way. This sometimes results in quite a bit of protesting and whining. This became a problem the weekend after Memorial Day when he started doing it at night. He'd roll himself onto his tummy and then whine. So Mike would go in and roll him back over onto his back. This happened a few times Friday and Saturday night, but fortunately he got comfortable with sleeping on his tummy.
So he used to sleep like this....
And now he sleeps like this....
He loves to stand....
We've gotten out the exersaucer. He seems to like being able to see from his new vantage point.
He's sitting in the bumbo seat. He thinks it's just okay. Here he is helping Mom cook dinner.
He's also getting more coordinated with his hands, which makes playing with toys easier and more fun for him.
Rolls over from his back to his tummy.
He's getting stronger with lots of control over his head, shoulders, and back. However, he doesn't really like being on his tummy and hasn't figured out yet how to roll the other way. This sometimes results in quite a bit of protesting and whining. This became a problem the weekend after Memorial Day when he started doing it at night. He'd roll himself onto his tummy and then whine. So Mike would go in and roll him back over onto his back. This happened a few times Friday and Saturday night, but fortunately he got comfortable with sleeping on his tummy.
So he used to sleep like this....
And now he sleeps like this....
He loves to stand....
We've gotten out the exersaucer. He seems to like being able to see from his new vantage point.
He's sitting in the bumbo seat. He thinks it's just okay. Here he is helping Mom cook dinner.
He's also getting more coordinated with his hands, which makes playing with toys easier and more fun for him.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Graduation, cousins and the farm
For Memorial Day weekend we headed to the farm to visit the Meiners family and celebrate cousin Samantha's high school graduation. Hard to believe that when I met her she was just 10 years old. Now she will be headed off to Iowa State soon. Check out Sam's awesome art that she had on display for her party!
We also got to meet several cousins including new cousin Baby Abby who was born just after Easter.
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| With Aunt Lisa |
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| With Aunt Brenda |
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| Cuddling half naked with Grandma. (It was warm that day) |
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| Sporting some new Iowa State gear. |
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| There are 12 grandchildren in the Meiners family ranging in age from 25 years to 6 weeks with one more coming in July. Here are the 4 little cousins - Grace (2), her sister Abby (6 wks), Kaitlyn (2.5) and Alex. |
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| Alex and Abby (6 wks) I couldn't put them too close together as Alex was excited and waving his arms all over. I was afraid he was going to smuck her. |
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| Cousins Grace (2) and Kaitlyn (2.5) playing dress up. Where ever did Grace find that wig?! |
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| Alex and Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn looks ready to be a big sister. Just a few more weeks until her little brother/sister arrives. |
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| With Uncle Gary. Do I look like him? |
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| With cousin Lindsey |
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| Alex with Gary next to Gary's baby picture. There is definitely a family resemblance. |
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| Alex with Gary next to Mike's baby picture. |
There's no crying in baseball...
Picture taken ~ 5/21/2012
Baptism
On May 19th we had Alex's baptism. It was a nice weekend and great company. Grandma and Grandpa Meiners even drove from Branson to be here with us before going home to Iowa. Alex is a very lucky little guy. That's a lot of windshield time!
Alex wore the baptismal gown that his great-great-grandmother (Amelia Claridge) made for his great-grandma (Marian Claridge Rivers) and her brothers. We think this was made for her brother George. He was born in 1912 so this gown is 100 years old. I was sure that it wouldn't fit since I am sure that the babies who wore it originally were not big 5 month old babies. But as long as we didn't snap the last 1 or 2 closures in the back, it fit just fine!!! And it's in pretty great shape considering how old it is.
Alex wore the baptismal gown that his great-great-grandmother (Amelia Claridge) made for his great-grandma (Marian Claridge Rivers) and her brothers. We think this was made for her brother George. He was born in 1912 so this gown is 100 years old. I was sure that it wouldn't fit since I am sure that the babies who wore it originally were not big 5 month old babies. But as long as we didn't snap the last 1 or 2 closures in the back, it fit just fine!!! And it's in pretty great shape considering how old it is.
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| With the godparents - Auntie Beth and Uncle Cory |
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| Three generations of Meiners men. |
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