Ben is 4 months old!!!

Ben turned 4 months old on June 15th. My little baby is growing up. Friday June 18th we had his 4 month check-up and shots. He weighs 18 lbs. 3 oz. and is 25 3/4" long. He had a slight fever after his shots, but otherwise he did fine.

So, what has been happening in the life of the Toepfer's. Saturday evening we had a cook out at Buckner Park in Waukesha with our friends from England. It was actually an old Crossroads get together. It was fun to see old friends. Jacob played with his new girlfriend Ella Stevens.

Sunday evening we went to church to hear Darin and Joy give a report of their ministry in England. Jacob and Ella had Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian hopping. They didn't make it through the whole service and ended up going outside and getting soaked in the water puddles. Afterwards, we caught a quick bite with Becky and Brian. Jacob was tickled to have supper with Brian and Becky. Becky thought she was chop liver with Brian around. Umm, mom and dad were really chop liver. At least Ben still likes to hang out with us.

Monday morning we called Grandma Pat to see if she had off of work. She did, so we headed up to get the next size clothes for Ben. He is having his growth spurt a little later than Jacob did, but nevertheless, he is growing like crazy. So my 4 month old is wearing 18 month and 24 month clothes. He is a happy baby most of the time and that is all that matters.

We also went to see Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Schneider. They are living in an apartment now and I didn't know how to get there so Grandma Pat and Grandpa Tom came a long. Thankfully they did. Jacob ran around the main area of the apartment complex like a crazy boy. Grandma Pat helped with Benjamin and Grandpa Tom helped with Jacob. My grandfather has Alzheimer's, he is on medicine and didn't do to bad when we were there. I did have to retrieve him out of someone else's apartment, but at least he recognized me and asked about Josh and Molly.

Next week begins the two week celebration of Jacob's birthday. Next Thursday, late afternoon, we will be going down to Illinois. Jacob will get to go to the farm and feed the calves, he is pretty excited about that, and riding on Great Grandpa's big John Deer tractors. Most of them are actually Great Uncle Ronnie's. Great Grandma Schultz and I will attempt to make a barn cake and a cow cake for his party on Sunday. We get to meet our niece Abigail and we get to see Tricia, Brian, and Kaitlyn. Jacob is also excited to get to go to Nana and Papa's house. If Jacob could he would take Papa and Grandpa Tom home when we leave their houses. It is kind of funny.

The following week we head up to Grandma Pat and Grandpa Tom's house. Jacob gets to celebrate his birthday with Grandpa Tom. They will be getting a Harley Davidson Motorcycle cake. Grandpa Tom will be 61 on July 15th and Jacob turns 2 on July 14th. Uncle T.J. and Uncle Andy will be their, it will be the first time we are all together since before Benjamin was born.

Hmmmmmm, so we started potty training Jacob. I know it is a little early, but he was really showing signs that he was ready. He went potty on the big potty 2 times today. Who knew that going potty could be so funny. To a little boy it is just hilarious. I am not sure if girls think it is as funny. We had one accident in the office, so not to bad. I have no expectations, since he is not 2 yet, but I didn't want to deter him from not trying. He has a hard time focusing, so it may take a while.

We are also officially in the terrible two's. I am not sure I am ready for this in another year. We might send Jacob to the farm for a couple of weeks to wear himself out. Just kidding, however the thought has crossed our minds. As Great Grandpa Schultz says, in a couple of years he can "vacation" on the farm.

P.S. My mom says that neither I nor my brothers were quite as intense as what Jacob is. In the process of minutes he let both of my brother's dogs out and they ran away and he was caught playing with the cat poop. We did get the dogs back and Grandma Pat disinfected his hands. She is a germ freak, so his hands were literally disinfected.

Family, Friends and Fun!!

We have been on the go since last week Wednesday. I can't believe everything we have done in the last week. Josh and I decided to go down to Illinois last week Wednesday. He was kind of slow at work and his grandma and grandpa Toepfer are not doing so well, so we took a trip down to see Josh's family. Before we left Josh needed to finish up a few things at work, so we went to a play date at the zoo. It was my first time at the zoo with the boys, by myself. Thankfully we were with lots of friends who helped out!! Their help was much appreciated. Oh yes, and before we went to the zoo, I got the boys in for a quick chiropractor appointment. They were suppose to go on Thursday, but since we wanted to head down to Illinois I got them in sooner.
It was a cozy trip down to Illinois. Molly our black lab is a big scary cat and freaks out when she is in back of our Jimmy with the luggage. It is like the sky is falling. So Miss Molly rides in the front seat and I ride in the back with the boys. It is a tight fit, but for now it is nice to be back there in case Ben needs a bottle or anything else. Jacob went to the farm two mornings, he fed the calves with Josh's cousin Emily, rode on tractors with Great Grandpa Shultz and saw a baby calf just after it was born. What more fun could a toddler have. The second morning he came back with manure all over the bottom of his shoes. We may have to invest in some rubber boots for the next time. We took a ride into Lanark to see Great Grandma Schultz. Friday mornings Nana does hair for a couple of ladies. One of the ladies has a daughter who use to teach named Rhonda. Jacob loves to hang out with Rhonda. They watch Pager's, that is Aunt Alisha's cat and Maggie, Aunt Alisha's dog. Jacob love to say "Hi" to them like they can understand him. He also likes to boss Page around. She looks at him and walks away. It is pretty entertaining. Saturday Josh and Jacob went to see Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Toepfer. Benjamin was sleeping so I stayed with him. Papa went along to cut the grass for Great Grandma and Grandpa. Saturday afternoon we headed back home.
Father's Day we spent with Grandma Pat, Grandpa Tom and Uncle T.J. , Uncle Andy had to work. We went to church and then met at T.J.'s house. We went to Chili's for lunch to celebrate Father's Day and Uncle T.J.'s birthday which was on the 12th.
Monday we cleaned and finished unpacking. Uncle Andy called and asked to come over for a bit. He was down at the VA Hospital for an eye doctor appointment and needed to go back later for an eye glasses fitting. So we got to spend time with Uncle Andy which was nice. Jacob loves his truck it is very loud. He also gets confused and calls him Uncle T.J. a lot. Andy held Benjamin for the first time. Ben is finally getting to the stage where you don't feel like you might break him. Ben thought Andy was funny. Monday evening my husband sat in the living room staring down 3 rabbits in our front yard. As soon as they went in back he sent Molly after them. Then he talked about getting a Bebe gun. I don't think you can shoot rabbits in the city hunny. I told him to put his fence up. It took him a while but his garden is protected by a 30" high fence. He can sleep soundly at night knowing his vegetables are protected from the rabbits. Ben and I decided Josh was a little goofy that night.
Tuesday evening we had friends that are missionaries in England come to visit. We had a great time with Darin and Joy catching up. They have two girls, Ella who is 2 1/2 and Kiera who is 1. Josh tried to brush up on his British terminology. He was a little off.
That brings us to today. This morning we had one of our neighbor boys come over to play. Poor little Andrew didn't know what to do. His older sister Lilly is in day care and he seems so lost without her. Maybe Jacob can break him out of his shell. Then at lunchtime Joy stopped by with Ella and Kiera. We had lunch and then Jacob, Ella and Kiera played for a bit before nap-time. They are just adorable. Jacob went to bed yelling for Ella. Then we took a walk to Mike and Karen Good's to drop off the booster seat that we forgot to send back with Joy. Ben was in the baby Bjorn, Jacob in his wagon with the booster seat and Molly. If you ever want some good entertainment, you should see me walking with my small pose. My neighbors must think I am crazy. I know they already laugh at me when I cut my yard with my manual lawn mower. Like I always say, there is never a dull moment in the Toepfer household.

Oh yes, I also came to the realization this weekend that my baby is going to be turning 2 years old. It feels like just yesterday we were anxiously awaiting Jacobs arrival. We waited so long for him and the Lord has blessed us so very much. I can't imagine life with out the two little boys that God has borrowed to us.

Weekend at Grandma Pat and Grandpa Tom's

This past weekend we went to Grandma Pat's house and Grandpa Tom's house. My cousin Becky was getting married and I thought it would be a great time for Ben to see some of our extended family. I am just not use to getting 2 extra people ready for a special event yet. Especially a little one who has random growth spurts. Actually it probably is the loss of sleep. Ben still is not totally recovered from being sick. Jacob and Benjamin went into the doctor last Thursday before we left. Friday I had to collect some samples to send into the lab so we could make sure they don't have anything more serious. Jacob is doing much better, however Ben is still not back to normal. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow what is going on with him.

We were not able to leave till Saturday morning, because Jacob had his last swim class for the session. So we headed up to meet my parents at the Sheboygan Northside Wal-mart were Grandma Pat works. They were having a car show at Wal-mart. Grandma was all excited to show Jacob a Duke's of Hazard car that was actually used in the show and was signed by all the cast members. It was cool till we found out who owned the car. (It is a really long story.) So then we rushed home to my parents house to eat and get the boys down for a nap. Grandpa Tom and Josh stayed with the boys, while my mom and I went to the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding.
We headed to the reception in Two Rivers and thought we would have a nice evening with family. We haven't been out much at night because Ben doesn't do well. Since we haven't been out in a while we forgot. Sooo, I spend half the evening and Grandma Pat the other half trying to calm Ben down. Thankfully my Aunt Julie had a room were the reception was at and a laptop computer and classical music. It is amazing how classical music can turn one upset little baby into a sleeping baby.
The weekend did not go quite as I hoped, but now days, I never know what to expect. The only thing I do know, is that Josh and I are very blessed to have two little boys. We are so thankful for them, they are tons of fun even with the not-so-fun things that happen. I wish I could write down all the funny things Jacob does, however if I did, I would miss some of them. His new thing to do is to drink out of a plastic mug I have. He goes into the fridge and gets water and walks around just like he sees me and sips it like it is tea or something. He is can be quite the funny little man.