Fun times with the chicken nuggets at Leed's farm. Had a great time with Weasel, Gertie and Beaver :-)

Updates - 2012

Easter 2012

Coloring eggs and making a mess

Go Redlegs!

So cute when they are clean!

Evan was in town!

Allison and Jessica did her hair.  I'm hardly allowed to brush it but...

Loving the summer time

Just to get us caught up for a chunk of 2012.  It has been a crazy but great year.  Mitchell started off 2012 with tonsil and adenoid removal.  It was rough for awhile but that pretty much stopped all of his vomiting issues.  Bowel issues still abound but we'll take it.  Then Jeff took his turn by breaking his thumb playing basketball so that was a few months of surgery, recovery and therapy.  Next was Maura breaking her elbow day 1 of gymnastics class.  We were lucky and she was able to have a waterproof cast which made the summer much easier!

Now fall is here and Maura started 3 year old pre school.  Both are enjoying school and gearing up for Trick or Treat. 

On the move...

Halloween was fun this year! Both were pumpkins and the stuffing helped since it was chilly. Maura wasn't too sure about the costume at first but after she saw herself in the mirror she kept saying "punkin" and grinning.

Mitchell is on the move! He has the same goofy crawl as Maura with one leg tucked under as he goes. He is very excited about the ability to get where he wants to go but is still pretty content in general. The walker is his new best friend and our walls are taking a beating but it is all good!

Haircuts were last weekend and I think that Mitchell was more patient than Maura... Now we are getting ready for the holidays. I was trying to explain Christmas and Jesus' birthday but Maura was stuck on cake for birthdays so we'll see where it goes...

Mitchell loves to eat...

Guess we knew that already since I'm sure he is 20 pounds by now but we started with some "real" food yesterday. I think that more went on him then in him but he enjoyed nonee the less.

He is a super easy going kid (unlike his sister) and has a motto of "go big or stay home". This applies to bowel movements more than anything but... :-)

Mitchell is starting to roll - not when he is on the floor - but off the couch onto the floor. The first of many bumps and bruises to come. It's amazing that when Maura did the same thing we called the Dr and were ready to run to the ER... Poor 2nd kids!

It has been way too long since my last post but life is crazy hectic with 2 kids - I can't even imagine life when Mitchell is mobile! We are adjusting to a new life routine and the house is a wreck most days but thank goodness for our family that is here to help.

They are 2 wonderful kids and life is nuts but good. Maura is 14 months, talking, walking and soaking up everything. She repeats everything you say (even if Jeff and I are the main ones that understand her) but she knows what she wants! We drove through McDonalds the other day to get mommy a big diet coke and as I am ordering she says "fe fry" so I had to get a french fry too! We start swimming lessons in 2 weeks so we'll see how those go...

Mitchell is 4 months, weighs 18 pounds and is planning to play lineman for the Bengals. He eats a lot, throws up a lot but with the lactose free existance is a much happier baby! No rolling over but he is babbling like a champ and is super too cute to talk to.

They each sleep through the night on different nights so hopefully it will all come together soon. We are looking forward to a fun summer - Thursdays at the pool with Grandma and zoo trips with Lily and Nathan!

Welcome Mitchell Joseph!

Mitchell Joseph Franzen was born January 28th 2010 at 10:04pm. After a long night/day of contractions, walking the halls and an epidural with a boost he made his appearance! He weighed 7lbs 8oz and was 20.25 inches long.

Maura has done pretty well with him (other than pulling his blankets off for some reason) but she is definitely missing mommy/daddy cuddle time. Muskie is a lot more cuddly now that he is playing 3rd fiddle instead of 2nd but enjoys eating what Maura is now feeding him from her high chair. She is walking now - looks a little drunk when she is doing it but is having a ball and so are we. She is very busy and into everything! She also seems to come up with something new to add to her repertoire of tricks so she wasn't outdone by the birth of her brother.

It has been interesting so far with 2 kids but we are happy that we can utilize the man on man defense especially at bed time! Not sure what his bedtime can be considered these days but that will come (hopefully before I go back to work)

Gambling and Gatlinburg

We had a nice fall getaway while the polyurethane dried on the floors. Started with a visit to Erin with dinner and ice cream. Saw her home and met some of her crew.

Then hit Keenland for the first few races. Maura studied the program and picked a few winners. She of course used Great Grandma's method of $2 on the 2nd horse on the 2nd race.

Then off to Gatlinburg. She shopped like a trooper at the outlet malls (and so did her daddy). She has a yucky cold so we did some extra napping on Sat then headed for the cheesiness of downtown Gatlinburg. After we all got matching air brush t-shirts and carmel apples we headed off for more shopping and the Smokey Mountain Brewery for dinner. All in all a nice trip.

Just a few other updates. She is really close to crawling but not quite yet. She gets started then flops on her face - can't quite get there. She is clapping when we say "yeah" and still does her fake cough. In the last few days she seemed to pick up a "pose" when smiling at people. When someone tells her that she is cute or makes faces at her she leans sideways and smiles the same way each time. She's going to be trouble :-)