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Activities Parenting

New House: Week One

We have now been in our new home for one week.  While not too much happens during the weekdays, this past weekend was a fruitful one!  However, I should probably back up a week:

Last weekend (March 16-18), both immediate families came down and helped out with the big move.  Elise, Jacob, and I were to pack our belongings and move to our new house.  We were blessed with good weather (and lots of help) which led to a productive weekend.  Thursday, Mary and Larry (along with help from the cats), finished painting the upstairs and helped prepare for the move.  Friday, we were able to pack up the apartment, put it in the U-Haul, drive to Iowa City, unload, and drive back down to retrieve the items in storage.  While the necessities were unpacked on Friday, Saturday was helpful in preparing the rest of the house.  Fred and Cathy painted the basement while others unloaded the U-Haul storage run and/or raked leaves off the already blooming flowerbeds.  Saturday night and Sunday were a little more relaxing with small projects being completed and all the guests heading for home.

This past weekend, Elise and I continued to unpack boxes and organize the clutter :).  We were able to get a large amount of yard work done, such as mowing the lawn, installing our first rain barrel, and putting down some fresh mulch.  There’s plenty left undone, but it has made a significant difference.

During the week, we continued to meet and be impressed with our new neighbors.  It is a great neighborhood with a number of young families and some ‘older’ grandparents at the other end of things.

Jacob has made leaps and bounds in the past week, developing his confidence in his ability to walk.  He can now freely walk by himself for 10-15 feet.  I will post a video soon of his travels!

All in all, the move has gone well and the family is adjusting great.  The house has taken on new life and we are very happy in our new abode!

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Activities Parenting

Flowers and Fun

Elise got a hold of the camera one day and started taking some photos.  Here is some of the carnage:

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Activities Parenting

Photos!

So…we have been slacking on the photo (and post) output on the blog as of late.  There has been a number of changes recently that have made our lives pretty exciting.  Some of these include Jon’s new position, Jacob’s first birthday, and buying a house.  This is a post of photos taken in the month of January.  I will be posting others soon, so feel free to check back in a few days.

As always, enjoy!

Categories
Parenting Thoughts on Life

One Year!

This post is in honor of Jacob’s first birthday.  One year ago, I started this blog with the hope of keeping our friends and family updated with our growth as a family and parents.   Today we are celebrating not only how much Jacob has grown, but how much Elise and I have changed over the past year as well.

One year ago, Elise and I were living in our house in Coralville.  Elise was on her second year of teaching and Jon was working through grad school.  Since then we have sold the house, moved to Kalona, Elise studied PLTW, Jon graduated, we bought a car, Jon got a full-time position, and last but not least, have enjoyed our wild adventures with the little man.  Indeed a lot has changed!

In conclusion…Happy Birthday to Jacob and make sure to check out this post: Jacob Arrives.  (I particularly enjoyed re-viewing the video of Jacob in the NICU.)

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Activities Parenting

Fun around the House

Jacob has been having lots of fun moving, grooving, climbing, and <any other motion verb>-ing.  Elise and I enjoyed a relaxing – well, that’s maybe not the best word – Sunday at home with the little man.  We broke out the camera and took some good photos of his activities:

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Parenting

Cruising!

Jacob made some awesome strides tonight with his scooter.  We captured the action in the video below.  In addition, I’ve included a video where Elise and Jacob are having fun with the sunshades.

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Parenting

Stairmaster

Due in great part to Jacob’s interest in chasing cats, he had a great time going up the stairs in Larry and Mary’s house.  Our current living quarters do not have stairs, so this was quite the experience!

Climbing Stairs, Pt. 1
Climbing Stairs, Pt. 2

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Activities

Degen Christmas

Arriving in Minnesota over the holidays, we were able to spend a good number of days with Larry, Mary, and Laura.  Jacob loved to chase around the two cats and play with the dishwasher.  Jacob received a really cool musical bug, a folding wooden table made by Larry, and a big red wagon!  Radio Flyer has definitely made some improvements over the years by adding backrests, seat belts, and four cup/juice-box holders!  Jacob highly enjoyed it when we took it out for a test spin.  Enjoy!

 

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Activities Parenting

Having Fun!

Today was a great day around the Werth household for having a good time.  Jacob was his energetic self – as usual – and I remembered to grab the video camera to record the fun.

 

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Activities

Holiday Season

The past few weeks have been quite the blur for the Werth household.  The end of December brought the end of Jon’s temporary position, a week spent in Minnesota for Christmas (including a trip to Lutsen), and starting a new position as Elise gears up for the end of the second term.  From December 23rd to the 31st, we spent time with many friends and family members in Minnesota.  This was Jacob’s first Christmas and also the first time a number of people were able to see him.

We have a lot of great photos (and a couple of videos) from this time which we’ll be posting over the next few days.  To start you off, here’s a couple photos of Jacob’s first haircut: