Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Halloween











Halloween was fun. CJ and I went to Lake Mills and went trick-or-treating in their downtown with cousins McKynzie and Rylie. He did well considering he doesn't quite get it yet. McKynzie helped. The following day we went to Madison to the Children's Museum for their halloween party. It was fun, but VERY busy. We were going to go to Green Bay for the halloween party at the zoo, but ended up with a nasty stomach bug instead and spent the weekend sick. Sunday was trick-or-treating in Oshkosh and CJ helped his daddy pass out candy.
CJ spent this last weekend with grandma and grandpa (nama and bapa) Bavlnka while I worked in Sturgeon Bay helping redecorate with Grandma K. We had fun, but MAN is border hard to remove! I will never do that again!
Lori and I took a Thai cooking class monday. It was fun and I liked probably half the food the class made. Tonight is thai left-overs, so we'll have to see if Cliff likes it, too.
Cliff has been doing a lot of hunting. He got a 6 point buck down near Omro, so he's happy about that, but they coudln't find it for a few days so the meat is no good. That sucks. We've been eating a little bear meat. I don't love it, but I like it better than venison. Cliff really likes it.
This weeknd we're just going to chill at home, then next weekend I am spending "widows weekend" with Erica again. Both the husbands will be out hunting, so we're gonna party (as much as you can with 3 kids between us).
That's about it for an update. Miss y'all!




Thursday, October 21, 2010

18 months

CJ's first finger painting
Didn't really like being thrown in. . .


Driving his car in the leaves

Cliff's bear (since I couldn't post it last time due to technical difficulties)



Hello, everyone! Well, fall is here and Halloween is around the corner. Sometimes I can't believe how fast time flies. . .



CJ is 18 months now. He just had his routine appointment and is 24 1/2 pounds (30th%), 32 1/2 inches (50th%) and his head is 85th%. Guess he needs room in there for all those brains! This is about the curve he's been on for a while now. . .skinny with a big noggen! Oh, well. What's new with him? His vocabulary has exploded. He seems to come up with new words every day and copies a lot of what we say. Last night I swear he repeated "I love you" to Cliff when he was going to bed. We're also working on potty training already. He has been struggling with diaper rash since he was a couple months old, so as soon as he started showing interest in the potty, I started working with him. It's been 2 2/2 weeks so far. Each morning we sit on the toilet after he gets up and he has pooped on the potty each morning except for 4. Hope this trend continues and we can start working on other times of day. I know he's young, so my hopes aren't high, but it would be awesome if we could get him out of diapers sooner than later.



Nothing new with Cliff or me. Still no deer for Cliff. He did get his bear (I think I wrote about it last time) and we just got the meat back. I don't love it, but I will eat it, which is more than I can say for venison. Cliff is also hoping to get a coyote this season. As for me, nothing new. Just looking forward to doing some Halloween stuff with CJ. I'll make sure to get some pictures of him in his costume for y'all.



Hope everyone is well and is staying warm this fall. I heard there's a possibility of snow in our near future. . .we'll have to wait and see!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

You thought I was bad about blogging before. . .it's been forever this time!

CJ dressed up for the rain (not really, those are mama's boots!)
CJ spent a long time doing this. . .can you guess what it is? He's cleaning his vacuum cleaner!

CJ anf cousin Kynzie at the park


CJ and cousin Kynzie on the boat
Well, it's been a busy summer. We've been gone many weekends up at Cliff's parents' cabin or at my parents' house or meeting up with friends in Minnesota or babysitting McKynzie for a few days. . .you get the picture. We've not had very many weekends at home, and have been busy during the week, too. When I do have time, Cliff is using BOTH computers to run programs for his summer research projects. . .
Anyway. We've had a great summer. Cliff has been working on his research and also working to bait for bears up north. Hunting and classes start this week wednesday. He's looking forward to both. After bear season is deer season, so I'll be a hunting widow from now until deer season is over. At least I know I'll see Cliff Mon-Wed since those are the days he teaches. Tuesday nights he has to go all the way to Steven's Point to teach his master's students.
I have been busy being mama and working a little. I have been spending my friday and saturday mornings dragging CJ to rummage sales. I have found some really good deals! I will be sad when winter comes and there are no more rummage sales!
And for the most exciting member of the family. . .CJ. CJ is growing and changing all the time. He now has about 10 or so words and he is still constantly chattering. He's got 5 1/2 teeth now. He's a huge handful and is always on the go. He climbs on everything, including the kitchen table. When I caught him, he was just about to hang from the light fixture! He loves to play outside and constantly goes to the door, points to the handle and asks for "more" and wants his shoes on. He also loves music and loves to dance. He jumps, shakes his butt, spins and screams with delight to anything that makes music (including when Cliff's phone rings because it has a musical ringtone). He can now reach some of our door handles and has figured out how to open the back patio door. He also learned to open Grandma and Grandpa B's screen porch door. CJ loves to be around other kids and always finds an older little girl to lead him around and play with him when we're out at the playground. Too bad none of them are old enough to babysit!
We had the pleasure of watching McKynzie for a few days this summer while Erica and Brian took Rylie to Cape Cod to celebrate Erica's 30th b-day. Kynzie and CJ LOVE to play with each other and we had a great time. We went to parks, the zoo, an amusement park, and we took the boat out on Lake Winnebago. The kids had a blast!
We took a trip to MN to the Mall of America to visit with out friends Matt and Autumn and their son Adam. We met there since it is halfway between Oshkosh and Grand Forks, ND where they just moved to this summer. We had a great time hanging out with them and CJ and Adam played really well together, even though Adam is 8. We also took our first trip to IKEA.
Hope you enjoy the pictures and hope that everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are! Miss you all!





Friday, June 25, 2010

Busy June

CJ playing with Aunt Sharon's dog Laddie


Driving Grandpa Jan's boat last weekend


Camping in Eagle River



Cliff's 28th birthday
Hello everyone! It's been a busy June. . .
We had a wonderful time up in Solon Springs at my cousin Tyler's H.S. graduation party. CJ got to meet a lot of family members that he had never seen before. . .We had lots of fun with the family!
Last weekend we went to Eagle River to go camping in Grandpa Jan and Grandma Lori's camper. We went fishing twice and CJ liked the boat rides. He also enjoyed touching the fish that his daddy caught!
I have been working a lot because it has been very busy in our unit. We haven't reached our average for number of births this month, but the last week and a half have been CRAZY. All this month's babies are trying to be born at once!
Cliff is still working on his summer research papers. We also celebrated his 28th birthday this week. We were at the campsite for father's day and his birthday. He had lots of fun fishing and caught quite a few perch and a nice walleye. It was a nice way to spend his birthday.
This weekend Cliff is going to a gun show and we have a birthday party tomorrow night for a friend. Next weekend we're out of town again. . .summer is a busy time!
Hope everyone is well and that you all are enjoying your summer. Love you and miss you!





Sunday, May 16, 2010

1 year and counting













Hello everyone! I have to apologize. . .I thought for sure I had already posted CJ's 1st birthday pictures. Turns out I am behind more than I thought!
We spent CJ's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Bavlnka then spent the next day with Grandma and Grandpa Moll. There were cupcakes, presents and toys galore. CJ was very unsure about getting messy with his cupcakes, and when his hands and face were covered with frosting and cake he got a little uneasy. He hated his bath that followed (we're still working on bath time) but had fun opening presents after that. All-in-all it was a good day. Not to mention that the day BEFORE his birthday, he decided to take his first steps! He quickly became a pro at walking and hardly ever wants to do anything else. By now, he's so independent that he won't ever hold our hands or let us help him. The way he walks is pretty cute. . .his holds his hands up in the air (for balance, I guess) at about shoulder level.
We've been doing swimming lessons at the YMCA together, and he's gone from being quite scared to being excited when he sees the pool. He hates the life jacket, though, and cried the whole time he had to wear it at lessons.
The other pictures posted are from this weekend at the NEW Zoo in Green Bay. We actually got to feed the giraffes, though I had more fun than anyone else, it seemed. It was pretty cool. CJ is still a little young to enjoy the zoo, but we had fun anyway. We are looking forward to going to the Milwaukee Zoo sometime this summer.
Cliff is done for the semester and has survived his first year of teaching at UWO. He's looking forward to a little more free time this summer, but has 2 research projects to work on.
Nothing new with me. Life is good but uneventful except in anything CJ related for me. I am working a little and getting a little more comfortable with my new job, but that's about it.
Looking forward to our upcoming party with the Bavlnkas. . .most of that side of the family has not met CJ yet! It's also been a long time since I have seen anyone. . .It should be fun.
Well, I better wrap this up, CJ is getting antsy. I miss you all and hope everyone is well!


Thursday, March 18, 2010

A new look for CJ



Hey, everyone! It's time for another addition of the "Moll Family Blog". . .
Things are going well here for us. Cliff is getting ready to have a week off for Spring Break, I am getting ready to start my first shift off of orientation at work, and we just welcomed a new niece to the family. Baby Rylie Elizabeth Neis was born on March 9th at 1339. She was 9#7 oz and Erica was only in labor a few hours. I tried to make it for the birth, but was too late. Way to go Erica!

CJ is growing and changing so much. He had his first haircut at 11 months old because he had to tilt his head to see past his bangs (they were down to his chin). We cut about 3 inches off and still kept it long. He looks like a different kid and looks so much older now. His hair looks kinda curly still, but I don't know where he got that from. He isn't walking yet, but is standing for longer periods and is now really fast at both crawling and cruising the furniture. He pushes the kitchen chairs around the kitchen now, so maybe he'll be walking on his own soon. There's no "mama" or "dada" yet (at least not with association of what he's saying) but last week CJ started saying "hi" and waving at people (and objects, his reflection, Ruby, etc.). He seems to understand that it's a greeting and says it at appropriate times. It's really cute.

There's not much else new here. Great weather the last few days and no more snow on the ground. . .although the weatherman said there could be some snow this weekend. I don't think anything is supposed to stick, though. Yay Spring!

I miss you all and hope this finds you all well!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

10 months old. . .







Hey, everyone!

Well, another few months and baby CJ is growing like crazy. He's teething. . .looks like he'll have his first tooth (or teeth) soon! He's into everything, crawling and pulling up on anything at least a few inches tall. Not walking yet. . .

I was hopeful that CJ was beginning to sleep through the night, but to no avail. He's back to being up 1-2 times most nights. . .oh, well.

We recently had a weekend in Wisconsin Dells with my parents, Erica, Brian and McKynzie. We had lots of fun at the indoor water parks and hanging out in the cabin we rented. Mom and Dad even let Cliff and I have a date night. Very nice! We did hibachi and went to a movie. It was good to get out for a night alone.

Cliff has just started his second semester of teaching. He even has a masters class he teaches in Green Bay. He had a nice 7 week vacation and is now back to the grindstone. During his vacation he worked hard on preps and on research. We also took a trip to FL for Cliff to defend his dissertation. He is now Dr. Moll! We had a great time hanging out with our FL friends while we were in town.

I am going to be off orientation at work soon. I am looking forward to being on my own, though I'll need a little help sometimes with some of the paperwork.

As always, I hope everyone is well and we miss you all!