We're Back! (Again!)

We finally have our computer back, our pictures loaded and we're ready to make a new post!

As summer ended, we went to a Bubble Festival with the Consie girls. We had fun making bubbles in all sorts of different ways!

Ceili went to the zoo and loved all the exhibits! She especially liked chasing the geese!

Uncle Josh and Ceili playing on the piano that

we got from Grandma Otis!

Ceili and Grandpa B. at a farm across from Great Grandma M.'s House! She's not too sure about this piglet!!

Auntie Kim and Ceili in the refrigerator looking for something sweet to eat! Looks like the whipped cream wins!

Ceili and Grandma O. carving pumpkins at our Pumpkin Party!

Guess What?!?

You will never believe what happened!

The backlight in our computer went out and we had to send it in for repairs!

By the time everything is said and done we should have a brand new computer.

It's already been in the "shop" for two weeks, so hopefully we get it back soon.

We will be sure to post with pictures then!

Hope everyone enjoys fall!

Does summer have to be over?

Well, summer has certainly slipped by and it is starting to feel like Autumn! We have had a very busy summer, filled with adventures and activities.

Ceili has been using her musical talents like playing this drum. She marches all over...I guess you could say she marches to her own beat!

Jon taught her to blow bubbles in the water. She loves "motorboat!" We didn't have many days when it was warm enough to do this, so we took good advantage of them when we could.

We took many road trips. Ceili is a very good traveler! This happens to be a picture of a time when she'd had ENOUGH!

She likes to help Erin with housework! Somehow she doesn't understand that the swiffer only works on the wood floor...not the carpet!

Ceili and Kavu are great pals! Kavu is so patient with her. Ceili even climbs into her bed to snuggle with her!

We started a painting project with Grandma O! Ceili thought that the foot washing tub was a perfect spot to splash in!

Ceili is wearing one of Jon's old T-shirts!

Too cute!

Hope everyone enjoyed their summer!

Summer! Finally!

Summer is here and we have been very busy! We've also been absent from here for awhile because we got our computer rained on at the Mouw Family Reunion! Long story...ask Erin:)

The computer is back and so are we! Ceili is now one year old! We celebrated by having Jon bake a small personal birthday cake just for her. We are celebrating with a full birthday party this weekend at the resort.

Ceili is walking and is very confidant on her feet. She is also climbing stairs and has figured out how to come down safely! Needless to say we have invested is several gates due to the layout of our home and its many stairs.

We have been at the resort every weekend and Jon has joined us when he dosen't have to work. We have also been gardening at the house and have been very happy with the results so far. The lettuce and radishes are delicious and we are looking forward to peppers, onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, peas, beans,squash, etc..

Ceili is developing quite a personality. We are so amazed by her, everyday!

Hopefully we will be able to update a little more frequently now and just to remind you, all of our pictures are on the Shutterfly link. We uploaded a lot recently (due to the lack of computer, they were stacking up on the camera's memory!) We put a few of our favorites on here, but there really are many, many more!

SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Spring is beginning to appear here, finally! We still have a few bits of snow but it is getting smaller and smaller everyday. Ceili got a new bike seat and helmet. She and Erin and Jon have been biking around the neighborhood.

We went to visit Jamie and Debbie and their newest addition, Aiden. They are all doing very well and Aiden is getting bigger everyday. You can check out his blog at: http://www.ourlittlefire.blogspot.com/

Jon had to work on Easter so Grandma O and Uncle Josh came to visit. They helped Ceili find her Easter Eggs.Ceili is now crawling very well and is pulling herself up onto furniture. Yikes, she is getting quick and is testing our reaction time. She is now eating some meats as well as many finger foods. She enjoys feeding herself banana, chicken, fish, beans, and apple. What a trip! We can't wait until summer and are looking forward to Mouw Family Christmas this weekend.

Water Babies Video

Ok, here it is, our first ever attempt at video production. Erin got this camera several years ago and we thought we would use it a bit. Jon and Erin took turns in the pool and shooting video. Together they were able to figure out the technical aspects. Here it is for you to enjoy. Please comment so we know what you think.

Longville Weekend

We went to Longville this weekend to serve an Asian style dinner party to some people from Grandma and Grandpa B's church. The People bid on the dinner at last summers church auction. Ceili helped entertain the guests and supervised in the kitchen.

On Sunday we returned home to Duluth and Grandma O was there for a short visit. Monday Ceili helped Jon make baby food. They made pears, peas, beans, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potato. We should have enough for several weeks now. We are in the midst of an ice storm as this is written and we are all praying for spring and warm weather. Hopefully the sun will shine again soon and we can get outside for more walks and playing in the grass.

Swimming to St. Patrick's day

Wow, another busy month! Ceili started swimming classes at the YMCA. She is in a water babies class with her friends Sophia, Kaenen, Emma, and Laurel. Ceili loves the water and naturally kicks and splashes. It doesn't bother her to go under water, lay on her back or put her face in but she has yet to learn to make the motorboat sound with her mouth. We think she thinks it's a big group bath time. Grandma Otis is joining us for lessons this week and we hope Grandma Burgers can join us in the weeks to come.

We Celebrated St. Patrick's day in Red Wing again this year. Ceili's first St. Patrick's day. She got to celebrate with her friend Lucy Villaran. The girls wore dresses made by Jon's Captain's wife, Dietta Keppers. Jon, Erin, Mike, and Abby decorated their strollers for the Red Wing Parade. The weather was perfect and the day was alot of fun.

This coming weekend we are going to Longville to serve an Asian themed dinner for some members of Doug and Alicia's church. The guests bought their seat at an auction to benefit Salem Lutheran. Doug, Alicia, and Ceili will host, Kim and Erin will serve, and Jon and Nick will cook for six special guests. This will also be Ceili's first dinner party.

Erin has been quilting and getting the house ready for spring, Jon has been planning a garden and planting seeds. We all hope that the snow continues to melt and that spring does indeed come earlier than that darn groundhog predicted!

Ceili is now up to five and a half teeth (half because we have been watching one on the top hang out just barely breaking the surface). She has also been fighting a cold but we believe she will be done with it any day now. She continues to pull herself up to standing and is still scooting around on the floor but doesn't appear to like crawling very much.

Baptism

On Sunday February 8th, Ceili was baptized. It was a very fun weekend. We were joined by Uncle Josh, Uncle Adam, Grandma O, and Grandma and Grandpa B. Ceili's sponsors were Debbie and Jamie Domras. Jon went to the mouth of the French River where it enters Lake Superior and got a jar full of water to use. Erin brought a pottery bowl that we had around the house to pour the water into. Ceili wore Erin's baptism dress and a necklace she got from Grandma O. Rev. Robyn Weaver was the pastor that baptized her. Ceili watched her very closely as Robyn spoke. Ceili handled everything as usual, with a great big smile on her face. Afterwards, Grandma and Grandpa B took us out to brunch at Blackwoods.

That tooth we were talking about is getting bigger. It doesn't seem to bother her anymore but Jon noticed the other day that she spends alot more time chewing on things now. Things like wooden chair arms and hard wooden toys, Ouch! I guess it feels good to her. We also gave her a half frozen washcloth and she seemed to enjoy the cold. Thanks for the tip Elizabeth.

Below are some photos from our weekend with more on shutterfly.

Bundled up Baby Update

OK, Here it is. If you would like to vote for Ceili you can follow the link: http://mix108.com/photos.php?mghash=ca030057b23b8d2dae33ca572e7b9630&mggal=50
Her picture is #27. You must register as a Mix 108 VIP to vote. It is quick and free. Thank you for your help. Tell all your friends and family to vote #27. The snowman hat picture below is the same one in the contest. If we win it will surely be because of the wonderful hat made for Ceili by Julie Eul. Thanks Julie, Great hat!

Toothday, February 3rd!

Ceili got her first tooth this weekend. She traveled to Faribault with Erin to visit with Grandma O and Grandma B. She came home with a tooth. We are doing everything we can to put up with her Dutch-Irish temper as she continues with swollen gums and general irritability. Fun!

On another note, Erin decided to enter Ceili in a radio contest. It is called Bundled up Baby and is a photo contest featuring bundled up babies. We will post more details soon. The prize is a remote car starter. Erin says ceili really wants to win it so Erin doesn't have to go all the way out to the car to warm it up for them.

Some new photos:

A Few More Pictures

Found a few more pictures on the camera. Here are a couple from "Thanksgiving" and Ceili's play date with Kaenan Smith. More on shutterfly.

We're back, baby!

Wow, It sure has been busy lately. Kind of lost track of time over Christmas. It was very easy to do because of all the friends and family stopping by. Don't worry, we were able to capture much of it with our camera and you can check out the pictures by clicking the shutterfly link to the left. Jon had much of December off of work and we all traveled to Erin's Uncle Loren's home in Iowa for almost two weeks to hunt and hang out. As always, it was good to see him as well as cousins Austin, Tyler, Ryan, Maddie, and Sam.

After returning from Iowa we settled back in to the house and got into the swing of Christmas. Ceili helped Jon Set up the Christmas tree and helped Erin decorate it. Uncle Josh and Grandma Otis came to stay with us before Christmas and stayed through the following weekend when we were all joined by Grandma and Grandpa Burgers and Uncle Nick and Auntie Kim. We had a great family meal and relaxing weekend.

Ceili was visited by her friend Lucy who also brought her parents Mike and Abby. They stayed for a weekend and it was great to catch up. Erin and Abby were able to sneak away while Jon and Mike hung out with the girls. Despite getting hit with a snowstorm everyone had a great time.

Jon went back to work on New Year's Eve and we stayed pretty close to home until we went down to Kasota to celebrate Thanksgiving with Jamie and Debbie. We had to postpone it earlier because of a scheduling conflict. Unfortunately Lucy, Abby, and Mike were unable to make it, due to a sudden illness. Yuck! Jamie and Debbie were great and we had a good time visiting, eating Debbie's famous turkey, and trying to play Wii.

We are now getting settled into a regular routine and Ceili is exploring new foods. She LOVES beets, as we discovered today. She has also enjoyed spinach, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, squash, peas, peaches, bananas, apples, and pineapple. She has also started eating a lot more of it. She enjoys fruit in the morning along with rice or oat cereal. Then for lunch and dinner she has veggies and cereal. She has not yet had anything that she has not enjoyed. She and Jon spend a day every couple of weeks making her food for the upcoming weeks and she enjoys watching him cut and cook everything. Erin comes up with a list of new foods and we go as a family to buy what we need. After the food is prepared it is frozen in ice cube trays and stored in ziploc bags. She is also now able to eat Cheerios. She loves to sit in her chair and rake the Cheerios into her lap. Sometimes she even gets them in her mouth. When she does, she really likes them.

Ceili is now six months old! She is getting huge and is working on crawling and is standing on her own if she can support herself on something. She is sleeping on her own at night and is doing well most nights.

This past weekend we had brunch with Smiths and Consies so Ceili got to play with Kaenan Smith and Sophia Consie.